Abstract

Objectives

To estimate costs of pharmacotherapy of recurrent depressive disorder (RDD) in a hospital-based care.

Methods

In the study, we analyzed the real-world practice in hospital-based care and the costs of RDD pharmacotherapy. A total of 119 case histories of patients who received a diagnosis of RDD and were hospitalized in 2017 were retrospectively analyzed. The study examined sociodemographic data, clinical and economic data, the frequency of prescribing medications, and medical expenses per 1 hospitalization and per day. The sample (N = 119) was divided into 3 groups according to the International Classification of Diseases-10th Revision code and the severity of the disease. The cost conversion factor was 1 euro equals 89.92 rubles.

Results

Antidepressants and antipsychotic drugs prevailed in the structure of prescriptions (32% and 36%, respectively). Antidepressants had the largest share in the total cost structure (about 41%), while the total cost of antidepressants and antipsychotics reached a total of 70%. Less than half of the costs were drugs included in the Russian RDD hospital treatment standard. The most expensive group in terms of pharmacotherapy costs per patient was the group “patients with RDD of moderate severity” (F33.1)—€61.1 ± 92.0 per case of hospitalization; this diagnosis was made in 80% of hospitalized patients.

Conclusions

Assessment of real-world practices and costs of treatment of patients with RDD allows for more widespread implementation of management methods that allow making a choice in favor of more cost-effective drugs for the treatment of RDDs in Russia.