title: Evolution of public and non-profit funding for mental health research in France between 2007 and 2011.
abstract: Since 2007, actions have been undertaken in France to foster mental health research. Our objective was to assess their utility by estimating the evolution of public and non-profit funding for mental health research between 2007 and 2011, both in terms of total funding and the share of health research budgets. Public and non-profit funding was considered. Core funding from public research institutions was determined through a top-down approach by multiplying their total budget by the ratio of the number of psychiatry-related publications to the total number of publications focusing on health issues. A bottom-up method was used to estimate the amount of project-based grants and funding by non-profit organizations, which were directly contacted to obtain this information. Public and non-profit funding for mental health research increased by a factor of 3.4 between 2007 and 2011 reaching €84.8 million, while the share of health research funding allocated to mental health research nearly doubled from 2.2% to 4.1%. Public sources were the main contributors representing 94% of the total funding. Our results have important implications for policy makers, as they suggest that actions specifically aimed at prioritizing mental health research are effective in increasing research funding. There is therefore an urgent need to further undertake such actions as funding in France remains particularly low compared to the United Kingdom and the United States, despite the fact that the epidemiological and economic burden represented by mental disorders is expected to grow rapidly in the coming years.
authors.affiliation: Univ Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, ECEVE, UMRS 1123, F-75 010 Paris, France; Inserm, ECEVE, U1123, F-75 010 Paris, France; AP-HP, URC-Eco, DHU PePSY, F-75 004 Paris, France; Fondation FondaMental, French National Science Foundation, Créteil, France.
authors.forename: Coralie
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gandré
authors.affiliation: Univ Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, ECEVE, UMRS 1123, F-75 010 Paris, France; Inserm, ECEVE, U1123, F-75 010 Paris, France; AP-HP, URC-Eco, DHU PePSY, F-75 004 Paris, France.
authors.forename: Amélie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Prigent
authors.affiliation: Aviesan - Institut Thématique Multi-Organismes Neurosciences, Sciences Cognitives, Neurologie, Psychiatrie, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Marie-Louise
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Kemel
authors.affiliation: Fondation FondaMental, French National Science Foundation, Créteil, France; INSERM U955, Translational Psychiatry, Université Paris Est, Pôle de Psychiatrie des hôpitaux Universitaires Henri Mondor, AP-HP, DHU PePSY, Créteil, France.
authors.forename: Marion
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Leboyer
authors.affiliation: Univ Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, ECEVE, UMRS 1123, F-75 010 Paris, France; Inserm, ECEVE, U1123, F-75 010 Paris, France; AP-HP, URC-Eco, DHU PePSY, F-75 004 Paris, France. Electronic address: Karine.chevreul@urc-eco.fr.
authors.forename: Karine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Chevreul
mesh_terms: D017281:Cost of Illness; D005602:France / Q000453:epidemiology; D006291:Health Policy / Q000191:economics*; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000191:economics*; D008603:Mental Health / Q000191:economics*; D012109:Research Support as Topic / Q000191:economics*; D012189:Retrospective Studies
keywords: Burden; Funding; Mental health research; Policies