Assessing the economic value of antihypertensive medications.

OBJECTIVE

To assess the economic value of antihypertensive medications by comparing the likelihood of coronary heart disease and stroke events and subsequent event treatment costs.

STUDY DESIGN

Duration of blood pressure reduction was used to profile event risk reduction of three antihypertensive medications.

METHODS

We used clinical data to determine the duration of blood pressure reduction achieved with use of two angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors and one angiotensin II receptor antagonist. We then used trough-to-peak ratios to calculate the reduction in risk of coronary heart disease and stroke events associated with each medication.

RESULTS

Across a number of different event treatment cost and population size estimates, the economic value of different medications can be assessed.

CONCLUSION

Our method for assessing the economic value of antihypertensive medications can be applied to other drug classes and can be further refined by integrating patient population and other risk-related data.