Background Depressive disorders often remain undiagnosed or are treated inadequately. Online-based programs may reduce the present treatment gap for depressive disorders and reduce disease-related costs. This study aimed to examine the potential of the internet intervention “deprexis” to reduce the total costs of statutory health insurance. Changes in depression severity, health-related quality of life and impairment in functioning were also examined. Method A total of 3805 participants with, at minimum, mild depressive symptoms were randomized to either a 12-week online intervention (deprexis) or a control condition. The primary outcome measure was statutory health insurance costs, estimated using health insurers’ administrative data. Secondary outcomes were: depression severity, health-related quality of life, and impairment in functioning; assessed on patient’s self-report at baseline, post-treatment, and three-months’ and nine-months’ follow-up. Results In both groups, total costs of statutory health insurance decreased during the study period, but changes from baseline differed significantly. In the intervention group total costs decreased by 32% from 3139€ per year at baseline to 2119€ in the study year (vs. a mean reduction in total costs of 13% in the control group). In comparison to the control group, the intervention group also showed a significantly greater reduction in depression severity, and impairment in functioning and a significantly greater increase in health-related quality of life. Conclusion The study underlines the potential of innovative internet intervention programs in treating depressive disorders. The results suggest that the use of deprexis over a period of 12 weeks leads to a significant improvement in symptoms with a simultaneous reduction in the costs of statutory health insurance.

中文翻译：

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互联网对抑郁症（deprexis）进行干预的健康经济评估，一项随机对照试验。

背景抑郁症通常无法诊断或治疗不充分。基于在线的程序可以减少当前抑郁症的治疗差距，并减少与疾病相关的费用。这项研究的目的是研究互联网干预“减少贫困”以降低法定健康保险总成本的潜力。还检查了抑郁症严重程度，与健康相关的生活质量和功能障碍的变化。方法将总共3805名至少有轻度抑郁症状的参与者随机分为12周在线干预（不良反应）或对照条件。主要结果指标是使用健康保险公司的管理数据估算的法定健康保险费用。次要结果是：抑郁症严重程度，与健康相关的生活质量和功能障碍；在基线，治疗后以及三个月和九个月的随访中评估患者的自我报告。结果在两组中，法定健康保险的总费用在研究期间均降低了，但与基线相比变化显着。在干预组中，总成本从基线的每年3139欧元下降了32％，在研究年度中为2119欧元（与对照组相比，总成本平均降低了13％）。与对照组相比，干预组还显示抑郁症严重程度的明显降低，功能损害以及健康相关生活质量的显着提高。结论该研究强调了创新的互联网干预计划在治疗抑郁症中的潜力。