OBJECTIVES: To gain a better understanding of the characteristics of patients with a hospital encounter for major depressive disorder (MDD) in the US and examine associated hospital resource utilization and costs, and hospital re-encounters.

METHODS: Adult patients with a hospital encounter (i.e., emergency department [ED] visit or inpatient admission) with MDD as the primary discharge diagnosis (index event) during July 2018 through March 2019 were selected from the Premier Hospital Database. Patients who had MDD hospital encounters during the 6 months prior to index events were excluded. Patient characteristics, hospital resource utilization, and the hospital charges (amounts hospitals charge for services) and costs (amounts hospitals incur for services) were examined during index events. During a 12-month follow-up post-discharge, the proportions of patients with hospital re-encounters, all-cause and MDD-related, were also examined.

RESULTS: The study population included 77,178 patients with an index hospital encounter (ED visit only: 49.9%; inpatient admission: 50.1%) with MDD as the primary diagnosis. The most common secondary psychiatric diagnosis was suicidal ideation or behavior, which was recorded in 51.8% of all study patients and 68.5% of patients with inpatient admissions. Mean (±SD) age was 38.2 (±16.2) years, 53.0% were female, and 72.1% were Caucasian. Among those with inpatient admissions (N=38,654), mean (median) length of stay and hospital charges were 4.9 (4) days and $17,107 ($11,912); post discharge 11.2% had a hospital re-encounter for any cause (within 0-30 days: 28.2%; 31-60 days: 13.3%; 61-90 days: 10.2%) and 9.6% had an MDD-related hospital re-encounter (within 0-30 days: 29.3%; 31-60 days: 13.5%; 61-90 days: 10.0%) during the 12-month follow-up.

CONCLUSIONS: Patients with a hospital encounter primarily for MDD are young, commonly have suicidal ideation or behavior, utilize substantial hospital resources, and have a high risk for an MDD-related hospital re-encounter within the 30 days following their initial hospitalization for MDD.