Cost-effectiveness of hypertension treatment.

The benefits of antihypertensive treatment are influenced by both the absolute initial cardiovascular risk, and the relative reduction. Because age is a major determinant of the absolute cardiovascular risk, and because the strategies for hypertension diagnosis and treatment are not very much influenced by age, hypertension management appears to be more cost-effective after the age of 45, in both men and women. Below this age, the absolute gain in life-years seems to be smaller, and sensitivity analysis demonstrate an important influence on the results of assumptions about the effects of treatment on quality of life and the discounting rate.