Real-world analysis highlights economic burden of treatment-resistant depression

A new real-world analysis published today in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry illuminates the significant economic burden of treatment-resistant depression (TRD) on healthcare costs, resource utilization, work productivity and employment, underscoring the critical need to treat the illness with a greater urgency.

There are approximately five million people living with depression who have not responded to at least two or more medications and are considered “treatment resistant,” which can have a significant impact on their personal and professional lives. These findings underscore that more needs to be done to develop resources and treatments that can address this burden and help those living with TRD.

Using a US insurance claims database, the analysis compared people with TRD to people with depression without TRD, and people without depression. Key highlights include: