Service use and costs of care for depressed adolescents: who uses and who pays?
Major depressive disorder is common in adolescence and is associated with significant morbidity and family burden. Little is known about service use by depressed adolescents. The purpose of this article is to report the patterns of services use and costs for participants in the Treatment for Adolescents with Depression Study sample during the 3 months before randomization. Costs were assigned across three categories of payors: families, private insurance, and the public sector. We examined whether costs from payors varied by baseline covariates, such as age, gender, insurance status, and family income. The majority (71%) of depressed youth sought services during the 3-month period. Slightly more than one-fifth had contact with a behavioral health specialist. The average participant had just under $300 (SD = $437.67, range = $0-$3,747.71) in treatment-related costs, with most of these costs borne by families and private insurers.
Domino
Marisa Elena
ME
Department of Health Policy and Management, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7411, USA. domino@unc.edu
Burns
Barbara J
BJ
Mario
Jeremy
J
Reinecke
Mark A
MA
Vitiello
Benedetto
B
Weller
Elizabeth B
EB
Kratochvil
Christopher J
CJ
May
Diane E
DE
Feeny
Norah C
NC
Robins
Michele
M
Hallin
Mary J
MJ
Silva
Susan G
SG
March
John S
JS
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000191:economics*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*