Does an antihypertensive diet cost more? Analysis from the Chinese Heart-Healthy diet trial.

OBJECTIVE

To determine whether the Chinese heart-healthy diet (Sichuan cuisine version) (CHH diet-SC) was more expensive than the conventional Sichuan diet and explore the food groups and nutrients that mainly affected the cost of CHH diet-SC.

DESIGN

Cost analysis of 4-week intervention diets in the Sichuan center representing southwestern China in the CHH diet study.

SETTING

A multicentre, parallel-group, single-blind, randomised feeding trial evaluating the efficacy of lowering blood pressure with the cuisine-based CHH diet.

PARTICIPANTS

Totally, fifty-three participants with hypertension aged 25-75 years in the Sichuan center were randomised into the control group ( 26) or the CHH diet-SC group ( 27).

RESULTS

The CHH diet-SC was more expensive than the control diet (¥27·87 ± 2·41 . ¥25·18 ± 2·79 equals $3·90 ± 0·34 . $3·52 ± 0·39, < 0·001), and the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio for a 1-mm Hg systolic blood pressure reduction was ¥9·12 ($1·28). Intakes and the cost of seafood, dairy products, fruits, soybeans and nuts, whole grains and mixed beans were higher for the CHH diet-SC than for the control diet ( < 0·001). Intakes of vitamin B, vitamin B, vitamin C, Mg and phosphorus were positively correlated with the cost ( < 0·05).

CONCLUSIONS

The CHH diet-SC costs more than the conventional Sichuan diet, partly due to the high cost of specific food groups. Positive correlations between the intakes of vitamin B, vitamin B, vitamin C, Mg, phosphorus and the dietary cost could be a direction to adjust the composition within the food groups to reduce the cost of the CHH diet-SC.