Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the armed forces : health economic considerations

This paper addresses the use of health economics in relation to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the Armed Forces, with a view to assessing the feasibility of carrying out future evaluative studies. Although psychological and pharmacological interventions can be used to treat PTSD, no economic evaluations are known to exist. There is an economic ‘burden’ associated with PTSD and treatments require the use of scarce resources. Health economics provides tools (including cost-effectiveness, cost-benefit and cost utility analyses) to ascertain the relative efficiency of different treatment options. The paper concludes that the quality of life and resource consequences of PTSD require a better understanding of the economics of the disorder and the alternative ways to treat it.