The impact of common mental and physical health conditions on days out of role: costs for the individual and society.

• Main Authors: Corina Benjet, Leticia Casanova, Guilherme Borges, María Elena Medina-Mora
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública 2013-05-01
• Series: Salud Pública de México
• Subjects: epidemiología; enfermedad crónica; salud mental; costos de la enfermedad
• Online Access: http://www.saludpublica.mx/index.php/spm/article/view/7207

Objective. To estimate the individual and societal costs of common mental and physical health conditions in the Mexican population with regards to the number of days out of role. Materials and methods. 5 826 adults were evaluated in 2001-2002 with the Composite International Diagnostic Interview and the WHO Disability Assessment Schedule. General linear models were used to estimate individuallevel effects. Societal-level effects were estimated with the population attributable risk proportion which takes into account prevalence and comorbidity of disorders. Results. The conditions with the strongest individual-level effects were major depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and bipolar disorder. The strongest societal-level effects were associated with major depression, pain, insomnia and cardiovascular conditions. Conclusion. The findings suggest the importance of investing in mental health expenditure to a level commensurate with the costs to society of mental health disorders.