Cost-Effectiveness of a PTSD Intervention Tailored for Individuals With Severe Mental Illness

Objective:This study examined the cost-effectiveness of a cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) intervention for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that is tailored for adults with a co-occurring severe mental illness.Methods:Data were from a randomized trial involving 183 adult clients of two outpatient clinics and three partial hospitalization programs. All had a severe mental illness diagnosis (major mood disorder, schizophrenia, or schizoaffective disorder) and severe PTSD. Participants were randomly assigned to the tailored 12- to 16-session CBT intervention for PTSD (CBT-P) or a three-session breathing retraining and psychoeducation intervention (BRF). Cost estimates included intervention costs for training, supervision, fidelity assessment, personnel, and overhead and related mental health care costs for outpatient, inpatient, and emergency department services and for medications. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio comparing CBT-P with BRF measured the added cost or savings per remission from ...