Int J Equity Health. 2026 Jul 11. doi: 10.1186/s12939-026-02873-4. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Anxiety disorders, depressive disorders, migraine, and rheumatoid arthritis are common chronic conditions that contribute substantially to disability, recurrent care needs, and productivity losses, yet remain comparatively under-prioritised in health policy. In Mexico, these conditions disproportionately affect women, but their economic burden has not been comprehensively quantified from a gender perspective.
OBJECTIVE: To estimate the direct and indirect economic burden of anxiety disorders, depressive disorders, migraine, and rheumatoid arthritis in Mexico among adults aged 20 years and older between 2005 and 2021, from a societal perspective and by gender.
METHODS: We conducted a cost-of-illness analysis from a societal perspective. Direct costs were estimated by combining condition-specific prevalence from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021 (GBD 2021) with normative per-case treatment costs derived from national clinical guidelines and official cost sources. Indirect costs were valued using three complementary approaches: the Human Capital Approach (HCA), based on predicted annual labour income from nationally representative employment surveys; a GDP-per-capita benchmark (1 DALY = 1 GDP per capita); and a willingness-to-pay approach using the value of a statistical life year (VSLY) transferred to Mexico following OECD methods. All costs were expressed in 2021 international dollars (Int$).
RESULTS: Between 2005 and 2021, the four disorders accounted for 28.8 million DALYs lost. Migraine was the most prevalent condition, but depressive disorders generated the highest direct costs (Int$310.5 billion) and the largest share of indirect costs (41.1%). Indirect costs totalled Int$106.8 billion under the HCA, Int$582.2 billion under the GDP-per-capita valuation, and Int$2.9 trillion under the willingness-to-pay approach. Under the GDP-per-capita benchmark, the combined economic burden of the four disorders reached approximately Int$1.2 trillion over the study period. Women consistently bore a greater burden than men across all four conditions and under all valuation methods; total indirect costs borne by women were 2.0 times higher for anxiety disorders, 2.1 times higher for depressive disorders, 2.2 times higher for migraine, and 3.8 times higher for rheumatoid arthritis.
CONCLUSIONS: Anxiety disorders, depressive disorders, migraine, and rheumatoid arthritis impose a substantial and unequally distributed economic burden in Mexico. The persistent excess burden among women indicates that these high-disability chronic disorders should be understood not only as a public health problem, but also as a health equity concern. More gender-responsive priority setting, stronger continuity of care, and better financial protection may help reduce both disability and its downstream economic consequences in Mexico and other LMICs with segmented health systems.
PMID:42436481 | DOI:10.1186/s12939-026-02873-4
