What are the direct costs of social phobia?
One US study of a community cohort of HMO members (Katzelnick et al, 2001) compared the number of annual outpatient visits and the annual cost of direct healthcare utilization in patients with:
- diagnosed generalized social phobia
- diagnosed generalized social phobia plus a comorbid psychiatric disorder
- diagnosed major depressive disorder
- neither social phobia nor major depressive disorder
In this study, the number of annual outpatient visits and the annual cost of direct healthcare utilization paid by patients with diagnosed generalized social phobia exceeded that of patients with no diagnosis of social phobia. In addition, patients with generalized social phobia plus a comorbid psychopathology had even greater increases in healthcare costs. Patients with generalized social phobia (with or without a comorbid psychopathology) had a number of annual outpatient visits and an annual cost of direct healthcare utilization that was more similar to patients with major depressive disorder than to patients with no diagnosis.
Social Phobia Direct Costs |
Social Phobia Indirect Costs |
Workplace Social Phobia Cost |
Social Phobia Productivity Loss |
Social Phobia Prevalence |
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