Understanding the Clinical and Economic Burden of Treatment-Resistant Depression APPROXIMATELY ONE IN THREE PEOPLE WHO SUFFER FROM MAJOR DEPRESSIVE DISORDERS DO NOT RESPOND TO TREATMENT AND ARE CONSIDERED TO HAVE TREATMENT-RESISTANT DEPRESSION (TRD). IN THE GCC, COUNTRIES SUCH AS KSA, KUWAIT AND THE UAE WOULD NEED TO SPEND BETWEEN 5 TO 20 PERCENT OF THEIR ANNUAL HEALTHCARE BUDGETS TO COMBAT THIS DISEASE. TO EXPLAIN MORE, BULENT OZTURK, MEDICAL AFFAIRS DIRECTOR JANSSEN GCC TALKS ABOUT TREATMENT-RESISTANT DEPRESSION (TRD) AND STEPS THAT COULD HELP DRIVE AWARENESS, MAKING THE TREATMENT MORE ACCESSIBLE AND REDUCING ITS HEALTHCARE BURDEN.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), nearly one in four people around the world develop at least one mental or neurological disorder in their lifetime. What factors increase a person’s risk to develop Major Depressive Disorder (MDD)? “MDD is a devastating psychiatric disease, causing patients to suffer a 20-fold higher risk of suicide than others. Some factors that contribute to the risk of developing the disease are chronic medical conditions, age, family history, major life changes and severe trauma or chronic stress.”
Depression is one of the leading causes of disability and the fourth leading contributor to global disease, yet recent investment into mental health has not matched its rising concerns. How does this affect healthcare systems? “Depression is one of the leading causes of illness and
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disability among adolescents and adults. From dementia to schizophrenia, almost one billion people worldwide suffer from a mental disorder. Lost productivity because of two of the most common mental disorders, anxiety, and depression, costs the global economy $1 trillion each year. Approximately one in three people who suffer from MDD do not respond to treatment and are considered to have
Treatment Resistant Depression or TRD.” “Besides these concerns, TRD also raises a heavy economic burden in terms of healthcare resource consumption and indirect costs to the system from loss of productivity. In the GCC, TRD costs for the KSA, Kuwait and the UAE were estimated at SAR 14,997m, KWD 30m, and Dh2,461m year-on-year, respectively.”
