According to a study published in Plos One, healthcare expenditures attributable to stress-related disorders, such as depression and anxiety, exceeded $80 billion in 2012. Common physical manifestations of stress include headaches, back pain, insomnia, gastroesophageal reflux disease, irritable bowel and chest discomfort.
Such conditions are the third highest drivers of healthcare spending after heart disease and cancer in the U.S., each of which carries its own stress burden, according AHRQ. Furthermore, more than 90 percent of people suffering from stress or stress-related disorders seek help through primary care services and tend to be frequent healthcare utilizers, accounting for up to 70 percent of physicians’ caseloads, according to the report.
In the study, researchers used retrospective analysis of all patients receiving the Relaxation Response Resiliency Program — called 3RP — for a median of 4.2 years. Several types of mind-body interventions were used in 3RP, including yoga, meditation, tai chi, prayer and rhythmic breathing.
There were 4,452 patients in the experimental group and 13,149 patients in the control group. Researchers measured utilization as a billable encounter stratified by encounter type (i.e. clinical, imaging, laboratory and procedural) and by class of complaint (i.e. cardiovascular) and by site of care delivery (i.e. emergency department).
After one year, total utilization for the group participating in yoga, meditation, tai chi, prayer and rhythmic breathing declined by 43 percent. Clinical encounters decreased by 41.9 percent, imaging by 50.3 percent, lab encounters by 43.5 percent and procedures by 21.4 percent.
Subgroup analysis showed the intervention group significantly reduced utilization compared with the control group by 18.3 percent across all functional categories, 24.7 percent across all site categories and 25.3 percent across all clinical categories.
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