發展經濟學研討會 

【總第33期】

 
【時間】 4月13日，星期三，12:00—13:30
【地點】：明德主樓734會議室
【主題】：Depression Hurts, Depression Costs: The Medical Spending Attributable to Depression and Depressive Symptoms in China
【主講人】：秦雪征 (北京大學)
 
【摘要】：Due to fast economic growth and lifestyle changes, China is experiencing a rapid epidemiological transition from communicable to non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Mental disorder such as depression is an important yet often neglected NCD, and is becoming a growing cause of disability, suicides and disease burden in China. This paper provides the first nationally representative estimate of the medical cost attributable to depression and depressive symptoms among the adult population in China. Based on the 2012 CFPS (China Family Panel Studies) survey, our results indicate that these mental health conditions have significant impacts on the individual expected medical expenditure, and they jointly contribute to 14% of total personal medical expenditure in China, with depression and depressive symptoms account for 4.76% and 9.25%, respectively. Given that patients with mental illness in China face several hurdles in seeking appropriate mental healthcare, we speculate that the high depression-related healthcare costs are mainly driven by the cost-shifting effect from mental healthcare to general healthcare, as mental disorders are often co-existent with other NCDs such as diabetes and hypertensions. As an implication, our study calls for an urgent reform of China’s mental health and insurance systems to remove the policy-induced obstacles for the access to mental healthcare resources.


【演講人簡介】
秦雪征，2009年獲得紐約大學經濟學博士，現為北京大學經濟學院副教授，博士生導師，主要研究領域為衛生經濟學，勞動經濟學，應用計量經濟學。在《Health Economics》、《China Economic Review》、《經濟學（季刊）》、《世界經濟》等中英文期刊上發表論文40余篇。