MENTAL HEALTH HEOR EVIDENCE GENERATION AND GROWTH OF REAL-WORLD EVIDENCE AMID INCREASING DISEASE BURDEN: AN AI-ASSISTED LONGITUDINAL ANALYSIS, 2014-2023
Author(s)
Corrina Mau, MPH1, Weicheng Ye, MPH2, Thitima Kongnakorn, PhD3.
1PPD Evidera Health Economics and Market Access, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Toronto, ON, Canada, 2PPD Evidera Health Economics and Market Access, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, MA, USA, 3PPD Evidera Health Economics and Market Access, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Bangkok, Thailand.
1PPD Evidera Health Economics and Market Access, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Toronto, ON, Canada, 2PPD Evidera Health Economics and Market Access, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, MA, USA, 3PPD Evidera Health Economics and Market Access, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Bangkok, Thailand.
OBJECTIVES: Mental disorders are a leading contributor to global disease burden, but whether health economics and outcomes research (HEOR) evidence generation has expanded proportionally is unclear. This study evaluated trends in mental health HEOR and real-world evidence (RWE) publications relative to the global burden of mental disorders, measured by disability-adjusted life years (DALYs).
METHODS: A previously curated HEOR database was developed from PubMed records (2000-2025; English) using predefined search terms and an AI-assisted large language model pipeline. Mental health abstracts were identified using Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2023 mental disorder categories. Annual HEOR and RWE publication counts (2014-2023) were compared with global mental disorders DALYs. Publication intensity was calculated as publications per million DALYs.
RESULTS: A total of 2,658 GBD-aligned mental health HEOR abstracts were identified, including 335 RWE studies (12.6%). Between 2014 and 2023, global mental disorder DALYs increased by 36.4% (from 125.6 million to 171.3 million), while annual HEOR publications increased by 8.8%. HEOR publication intensity showed year-to-year variation but remained generally stable, averaging 1.04 publications per million DALYs and ranging from a high of 1.21 in 2018 to a low of 0.87 in 2023. Annual RWE publications more than doubled (+109.1%) over the study period. Although HEOR publication intensity remained stable, RWE publication intensity increased from 0.09 to 0.13 publications per million DALYs (+53.3%).
CONCLUSIONS: Global mental disorder burden increased substantially between 2014 and 2023, whereas growth in mental health HEOR publications was comparatively modest. Although overall HEOR publication intensity remained relatively stable, RWE publication intensity demonstrated sustained growth and comprised an increasing share of mental health HEOR evidence. These findings suggest growing reliance on RWE to address mental health evidence needs while highlighting a potential mismatch between overall evidence generation and the increasing burden of mental disorders.
METHODS: A previously curated HEOR database was developed from PubMed records (2000-2025; English) using predefined search terms and an AI-assisted large language model pipeline. Mental health abstracts were identified using Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2023 mental disorder categories. Annual HEOR and RWE publication counts (2014-2023) were compared with global mental disorders DALYs. Publication intensity was calculated as publications per million DALYs.
RESULTS: A total of 2,658 GBD-aligned mental health HEOR abstracts were identified, including 335 RWE studies (12.6%). Between 2014 and 2023, global mental disorder DALYs increased by 36.4% (from 125.6 million to 171.3 million), while annual HEOR publications increased by 8.8%. HEOR publication intensity showed year-to-year variation but remained generally stable, averaging 1.04 publications per million DALYs and ranging from a high of 1.21 in 2018 to a low of 0.87 in 2023. Annual RWE publications more than doubled (+109.1%) over the study period. Although HEOR publication intensity remained stable, RWE publication intensity increased from 0.09 to 0.13 publications per million DALYs (+53.3%).
CONCLUSIONS: Global mental disorder burden increased substantially between 2014 and 2023, whereas growth in mental health HEOR publications was comparatively modest. Although overall HEOR publication intensity remained relatively stable, RWE publication intensity demonstrated sustained growth and comprised an increasing share of mental health HEOR evidence. These findings suggest growing reliance on RWE to address mental health evidence needs while highlighting a potential mismatch between overall evidence generation and the increasing burden of mental disorders.
Conference/Value in Health Info
2026-11, ISPOR Europe 2026, Vienna, Austria
Value in Health, Volume 29, Issue 12S
Code
RWD12
Topic
Epidemiology & Public Health, Methodological & Statistical Research, Real World Data & Information Systems
Topic Subcategory
Reproducibility & Replicability
Disease
Mental Health (including addiction)