THE IMPORTANCE OF CONSIDERING NONMONETARY COSTS AND BENEFITS IN SELECTING PHARMACOLOGICAL INTERVENTIONS IN MENTAL-HEALTH

The continuing increase in health care costs has focused more attentio n on the value associated with a therapeutic intervention in addition to its clinical efficacy and safety. Although safety and efficacy are important, the effectiveness of an intervention in practice is the yar dstick for assessing a therapy's societal benefit, In measuring effect iveness outcomes, all the relevant costs and benefits must be consider ed, including those that extend beyond the direct costs of care, Patie nt quality of life and, related to it, work productivity are two addit ional outcomes worthy of consideration. This article presents a discus sion of several economic approaches to measuring indirect costs, the r elationship between indirect costs and quality of life, and the releva nce of such evaluations in the area of mental health, and offers recom mendations for researchers.