PTSD treatment cost-effective when patients given choice

University of Washington - Posted under: Health and Medicine , News Releases , Research , UW and the Community A cost-analysis of post-traumatic stress disorder treatments shows that letting patients choose their course of treatment - either psychotherapy or medication - is less expensive than assigning a treatment and provides a higher quality of life for patients. In a recent study , published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, PTSD patients allowed to choose between therapies ended up costing about $1,622 less on average per patient per year compared with patients who were assigned treatment. Among patients not given a choice, treatment with prolonged exposure psychotherapy cost less on than sertraline. "This is one of the first studies to look at the cost of providing mental health care and comparing different treatments for PTSD,” said Lori Zoellner , co-author of the study and director of the University of Washington's Center for Anxiety and Traumatic Stress. "It has tremendous implications for how large health care systems such as the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs proceed with treating PTSD. The National Institute of Mental Health funded the study, with additional funding from the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy. "In evaluating how well a treatment works, we seldom pay attention to the role of a patient's preference, although it could be particularly important in mental health treatments,” Zoellner said.