The Economic Burden Associated with Depressive Symptoms among Middle-Aged and Elderly People with Chronic Diseases in China

Yun Wu, Sihui Jin, Jianwei Guo, Yi Zhu, Lijin Chen and Yixiang Huang ()
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Yun Wu: Department of Health Policy and Management, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, 74, Zhongshan 2nd Road, Guangzhou 510030, China
Sihui Jin: Department of Health Policy and Management, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, 74, Zhongshan 2nd Road, Guangzhou 510030, China
Jianwei Guo: Department of Health Policy and Management, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, 74, Zhongshan 2nd Road, Guangzhou 510030, China
Yi Zhu: Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 1037 Luoyu Road, Hongshan District, Wuhan 430074, China
Lijin Chen: Department of Health Policy and Management, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, 74, Zhongshan 2nd Road, Guangzhou 510030, China
Yixiang Huang: Department of Health Policy and Management, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, 74, Zhongshan 2nd Road, Guangzhou 510030, China

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 19, 1-14

Abstract: Coexisting physical diseases and depressive symptoms exacerbate morbidity and disability, but their incremental economic burden remains unclear. We used cross-sectional data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) survey in 2018 to estimate the economic burden associated with depressive symptoms among middle-aged and elderly people with chronic diseases. A multivariable regression model was used to assess the annual health care utilization, expenditures, and productivity loss of depressive symptoms among people with 12 common chronic diseases. We found that depressive symptoms were associated with higher incremental economic burdens, as the total health care costs increased by 3.1% to 85.0% and annual productivity loss increased by 1.6% to 90.1%. Those with cancer or malignant tumors had the largest economic burden associated with depressive symptoms, with CNY 17,273.7 additional annual health care costs and a loss of CNY 2196.2 due to additional annual productivity loss. The effect of depressive symptoms on the economic burden of patients with chronic conditions did not increase by the number of chronic conditions. Considering the high economic burden associated with depressive symptoms among patients with chronic conditions, it is important to consider the mental health of patients in chronic disease treatment and management.

Keywords: economic burden; depressive symptoms; chronic disease; multimorbidity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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