Cost Savings With Nefazodone in Treating Depression

Pharmacoeconomic analysis of antidepressant therapy is an important tool for ensuring the most cost-cognizant approach to treat a particular mental disorder. As the number of effective antidepressant compounds continues to grow, the drug selection process must consider not only the cost of the drug itself, but also costs associated with treatment failure and management of untoward and unexpected side effects. In economic studies conducted in North America and England using a decision analysis model and a direct annual cost model, nefazodone has been shown to have an impact on costs associated with depression when compared with imipramine and fluoxetine. Nefazodone also can reduce depression-related anxiety and agitation symptoms early in treatment, and, because it improves subjective and objective sleep measures, use of concomitant anxiolytics or sedative-hypnotics with nefazodone has been shown to be less frequent and less costly than with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors.