ASSESSING THE ECONOMIC VALUE OF ANTIHYPERTENSIVE MEDICATIONS

Objective: To assess the economic value of antihypertensive medication s by comparing the;likelihood of coronary heart disease and stroke eve nts and subsequent event treatment costs. Study Design: Duration of bl ood pressure reduction was used to profile event risk reduction of thr ee antihypertensive medications, Methods: We used clinical data to det ermine the duration of blood pressure reduction achieved with use of t wo angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors and one angiotensin II rec eptor antagonist. We then used trough-to-peak ratios to calculate the reduction in risk of coronary heart disease and stroke events associat ed with each medication, Results: Across a number of different event t reatment cost and population size estimates, the economic value of dif ferent medications can be assessed. Conclusion: Our method for assessi ng the economic value of antihypertensive medications can be applied t o other drug classes and can be further refined by integrating patient population and other risk-related data.