Economic evaluations of public health interventions for mental health: A systematic literature review

Background To review the literature on economic evaluations of public health interventions targeting prevention of mental health problems and suicide, to support evidence based societal resource allocation. Methods A systematic review of economic evaluations within mental health and suicide prevention was conducted including studies published between 2000 and 2018. The studies were identified through Medline, PsychINFO, Web of Science. The quality of relevant studies and the transferability of their results were assessed using a criterion set out by the Swedish Agency for Health Technology Assessment. Results Nineteen studies of moderate to high quality were included in this review, which evaluated 18 interventions in mental health and 4 interventions in suicide prevention. Fourteen (63%) of all interventions were cost-effective. None of the studies that evaluated suicide prevention was of high quality. The interventions largely focused on psychological interventions at school, the workplace and within elderly care as well as screening and brief interventions in primary care. Nine studies (around 50% of included articles) had a high potential for transferability to the Swedish context. Conclusions Public health interventions aiming to improve mental health have a high potential to be economically beneficial to society, but high-quality evidence on the cost-effectiveness of suicide prevention is limited. Key messages Public health interventions aiming to improve mental health have a high potential to be economically beneficial to society. Evidence on the cost-effectiveness of suicide prevention is limited.