Stress-related illnesses cost S'pore S$3.2 billion yearly, 18% of total health expenditure

Stress is a worldwide problem.

Melanie Lim | November 22, 2019, 01:52 PM

Stress-related illnesses are putting a huge financial burden on Singapore's health system, according to a study.

Every year, stress-related illnesses cost Singapore's economy around US$2.342 billion (S$3.2 billion), which forms around 18 per cent of the country's total health expenditure.

These findings were revealed in November 2019 by Cigna, an American worldwide health services organisation and Asia Care Group, a specialist healthcare consultancy firm focused on the Asia-Pacific markets.

Study focused on nine countries globally

Titled "Chronic Stress: Are we reaching health system burnout?", the study focused on health systems in nine countries around the world, including Singapore, Australia, the United States and Thailand.

Out of the nine countries, Singapore ranked the second highest in percentage for healthcare spending that is due to stress-related illnesses, just after Australia.

Image via Cigna

Cigna's research found that 84 per cent of people around the world say they are stressed, with 13 per cent finding it unmanageable.

Some 64 per cent also say that they work in an "always on" environment.

In Asia, this percentage went up.

Some 91 per cent of people in Asia said they are stressed, with as many as eight out of 10 people saying they operate in an "always on" culture.

Stress-related illnesses in Singapore's health system

The impact of stress-related illnesses on Singapore's health system are most keenly felt in primary care, where just over 35 per cent of all attendances report stress-related conditions.

For those admitted to hospitals, just over 19 per cent relate to stress-related illnesses.

Despite the relatively smaller percentage, Singapore's public hospitals are facing severe capacity challenges, with Cigna estimating that over 160,000 admissions are related to stress-related conditions.

Due to stress-related illnesses in Singapore each year, there are:

  • 160,118 inpatient admissions
  • 239,123 accident and emergency patients
  • 11,124,152 general practitioner appointments
  • 3,034,159 outpatient attendances

Three major categories of stress-related illnesses

Some of the stress-related mental illnesses people might experience include depression, anxiety disorder, and panic order.

Otherwise, patients who suffer from stress might also experience physical symptoms, such as chest pain and digestive disorders, amongst others:

Image via Cigna

Some people may also experience stress which manifests as medically unexplained conditions, such as cardiac neurosis, pseudo-seizures and multiple pains, amongst others:

Image via Cigna

Breakdown of costs spent in Singapore

In Singapore, US$514 million (S$700 million) is spent on people with stress-related mental illnesses each year, while US$894 million (S$1.22 billion) are spent on people who suffer from stress which manifests as physical symptoms.

However, the largest annual expenditure is spent on people who suffer from stress which manifests as medically unexplained conditions, at US$934 million (S$1.27 billion).

What Singapore can do to alleviate these problems

According to Cigna, there are certain things healthcare practitioners and employers in Singapore can do to address the causes of stress and to ensure that those experiencing stress-related illnesses get the support they need.

For instance, healthcare institutions can identify patients suffering from stress-related illnesses earlier in their journey and upskill hospital staff to detect and manage patients with stress conditions.

This will likely reduce the burden on both hospital beds and financing.

Employers, on the other hand, can treat stress as an occupational risk and take measures such as insisting that employees do not work during annual leave.

They could also work with the healthcare community to help employees better understand how stress can manifest and how to obtain help should they need so.

Providing coverage for mental health and wellness are also suggestions.

Top image via ahmad gunnaivi on Unsplash