The Cost of Comorbid Depression and Pain for Individuals Diagnosed With Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Patients with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) often have comorbid medical and psychiatric disorders and may incur higher costs. In this study, a total of 36,435 GAD patients aged 18 to 64 were identified from a claims database. Patientʼs total health care and component costs were compared between GAD patients with and without comorbid depression and pain using general linear models. The average total annual cost for all the GAD patients in the study was $7451. Compared with patients with GAD-only, the estimated total cost was $762 higher for GAD with depression (p < 0.001), $2989 higher for GAD with pain (p < 0.001), and $6073 higher for GAD with both depression and pain (p < 0.001). Comorbid depression and pain had significant impact on costs, especially those with pain or with both depression and pain. This suggests that an optimal strategy for GAD should take into account comorbid pain and depression.