Research priorities in mental health, part 1: an evaluation of the current research effort against the criteria of disease burden and health system costs

OBJECTIVE: To examine the amount of research that various mental disorders are currently receiving in Australia and compare this with the disease burden and health system costs attributable to these disorders. METHOD: A content analysis was carried out on a year's worth of published articles and a year's worth of competitive research grants. Abstracts of articles and grants were coded for a number of attributes, including the type of mental disorder covered. The percentage of articles and grant funding for various mental disorders was compared against published data on the disease burden and health system costs attributable to these disorders. RESULTS: Mental disorders contribute 19.1% of disease burden and 9.8% of health system costs, but receive only 8.9% of National Health and Medical Research Council funding. An examination of the distribution of research within the mental health area showed that substance use disorders are by far the most researched in terms of both publications and grant funding, followed by affective disorders. By contrast, affective disorders account for the most burden, followed by dementia, substance use and anxiety disorders. The biggest consumers of health system costs are dementia, affective disorders, and schizophrenia and other psychoses. CONCLUSIONS: While all mental disorders merit more research attention than they are currently receiving, affective disorders and dementia appear to be particularly under-researched given their contribution to disease burden and health system costs.