title: Associations of serious mental illness with earnings: results from the WHO World Mental Health surveys.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Burden-of-illness data, which are often used in setting healthcare policy-spending priorities, are unavailable for mental disorders in most countries.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To examine one central aspect of illness burden, the association of serious mental illness with earnings, in the World Health Organization (WHO) World Mental Health (WMH) Surveys.
  
  
  METHODS
  The WMH Surveys were carried out in 10 high-income and 9 low- and middle-income countries. The associations of personal earnings with serious mental illness were estimated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Respondents with serious mental illness earned on average a third less than median earnings, with no significant between-country differences (chi(2)(9) = 5.5-8.1, P = 0.52-0.79). These losses are equivalent to 0.3-0.8% of total national earnings. Reduced earnings among those with earnings and the increased probability of not earning are both important components of these associations.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results add to a growing body of evidence that mental disorders have high societal costs. Decisions about healthcare resource allocation should take these costs into consideration.
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Health, Mental Health Services, Jerusalem, Israel.
authors.forename: Daphna
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Levinson
authors.forename: Matthew D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Lakoma
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Petukhova
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schoenbaum
authors.forename: Alan M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Zaslavsky
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Angermeyer
authors.forename: Guilherme
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Borges
authors.forename: Ronny
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bruffaerts
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: de Girolamo
authors.forename: Ron
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: de Graaf
authors.forename: Oye
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Gureje
authors.forename: Josep Maria
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Haro
authors.forename: Chiyi
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Aimee N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Karam
authors.forename: Norito
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kawakami
authors.forename: Sing
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Jean-Pierre
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Lepine
authors.forename: Mark Oakley
authors.initials: MO
authors.lastname: Browne
authors.forename: Michail
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Okoliyski
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Posada-Villa
authors.forename: Rajesh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sagar
authors.forename: Maria Carmen
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Viana
authors.forename: David R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: Ronald C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Kessler
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D017281:Cost of Illness; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D004651:Employment / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014943:Global Health; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D038801:International Classification of Diseases; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000191:economics* / Q000453:epidemiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D017678:Sex Distribution; D014944:World Health Organization; D055815:Young Adult