Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Cost-effectiveness of adolescent depression treatment

A study of 439 children in the U.S. looked into the cost-effectiveness of different treatments for adolescent depression. The study compared the effectiveness of fluoxetine alone, fluoxetine in conjunction with cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) and CBT alone. The researchers found that CBT and fluoxetine produced the greatest improvement but that it was five times more expensive per quality-adjusted life year* than fluoxetine alone. After 12-weeks CBT 'was neither an effective nor cost-effective option'.

Domino, Marisa Elena ... [et al] - Cost-effectiveness of treatments for adolescent depression: results from TADS American Journal of Psychiatry May 2008, 165(5), 588-596

*for a definition of quality-adjusted life years see

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quality-adjusted_life_years

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