ACTA-HEAT Excellence in Trial-based Health Economics Award: Target-D economic evaluation

28 November 2023

Our Health Economics Group were delighted to scoop up this inaugural award at the 2023 Australian Clinical Trials Alliance’s (ACTA) Trial of the Year Awards last night.

Professor Cathy Mihalopoulos accepted the award on behalf of the team, saying “Having worked in this field for some time, it’s gratifying to see the addition of this prize to ACTA’s stable of awards, reflecting a growing acknowledgement of the importance of health economics in research and practice.

“I’m very proud of my team’s work with this study, and their continuing dedication to expanding the field and making important advancements to health knowledge and practice.”

This economic evaluation was a part of a larger trial run by the University of Melbourne’s Department of General Practice, called “Matching depression management to severity prognosis in primary care: the Target-D randomised controlled trial.”

Depression is a leading cause of disease burden globally and nationally with an increasing trajectory, and most care is delivered via General Practitioners. Matching the most appropriate care to depression severity can be difficult.

The researchers evaluated the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of a unique clinical prediction tool aiming to match primary care patients with the most appropriate depression treatment(s) based on their predicted severity of depressive symptoms. This was the first economic evaluation of an e-health platform designed to personally tailor depression management in primary care.

The economic evaluation examined the value-for-money credentials of the Target-D platform by: (1) costing the actual provision of the tool and measuring changes across a range of costs (including health professional visits, hospitalisations, productivity impacts, etc.) using a self-reported resource use questionnaire; and (2) measuring changes in quality of life.

The results suggest that, over 12 months, the screening and intervention program is likely to be cost-effective, providing indicative support for further development of digitally supported mental health care.

Read the Target-D economic evaluation paper here.

Read about other Monash University Clinical Trials Centre ACTA Award research teams who were also recognised at the ACTA Awards at monash.edu/medicine/news/latest/2023-articles/acta-awards-haul