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The Journal of Medical Economics reveals that hypertensive patients who are treated with a singletablet regimen (STR) as part of their therapy had a considerablereduction in serious cardiovascular events at a neutral cost ascompared with individual component therapies. The data was based on a retrospective analysis of the UK THINdatabase and demonstrated that the treatment was cost neutral tothe NHS due to the additional drug acquisition costs for STRtherapy being offset by a reduction in hospital admissions andinitial referral costs for cardiovascular events. According to Dr Jonathan Belsey's analysis, over a 5-year period,only 8.3% of hypertensive patients who received a STR as part oftheir therapy suffered from serious cardiovascular events, comparedwith 13.6% of patients on individual component therapies. STR was defined as any combination tablet that incorporated two ormore agents from different classes of antihypertensive treatment. The average annual management cost over a period of five years wascalculated at 191.49 per STR patient and at 189.35 forpatients treated with single component therapies. Given that thestudy was based on a retrospective cohort, the researchers wereunable to identify the reasons for individual prescriptions, assome prescriptions may have been issued for other reasons ratherthan hypertension . The study results support findings from a US meta-analysis, whichrevealed hospital admissions for cardiovascular events wereconsiderably lower for patients treated with STRs compared withthose who received individual component therapy. Dr Belsey, Health Economist and lead author of the study declared: "This analysis shows that treatment with the STR resulted in aclinical benefit to patients through the reduction incardiovascular events, and a benefit to the NHS by reducinghealthcare costs associated with complications of poor bloodpressure control, particularly heart attacks and stroke ." 40% of hypertensive patients in the UK failed to achieve a bloodpressure target of 140/90 mmHg in 2010. There are various potentialexplanations for failing to achieve clinical targets; one majorfactor is the likelihood of poor adherence to therapy. STRs managedto improve treatment adherence by up to 25%, in comparison withindividual component therapies, and those adhering to theirprescribed treatment regime have better blood pressure control,improved clinical outcomes and have a lower risk of being referredor hospitalized. In the UK, nearly 2 million people are prescribed with three ormore treatments for their hypertension. However, 50 to 80% of thesefail to adhere to the regime their doctor prescribed, with theresult that a percentage of these individuals may still suffer fromuncontrolled hypertension. Stroke is the third most common cause of mortality within the UK,and the biggest risk of stroke is uncontrolled hypertension. Eachyear the NHS pays about 2.8 billion in medical costs forstroke, whilst the economic costs of stroke runs into an estimated 7 billion per year. Graham MacGregor, Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine and Chairmanof the Blood Pressure Association explained: "Many patients suffering from hypertension struggle with adherencebecause they have to remember to take numerous tablets everyday totreat their condition. STRs offer a simplified treatment regimenand their wider use could help with adherence, no doubt leading tobetter blood pressure control and helping to reduce the risk ofcardiovascular disease and stroke." Written By Petra Rattue Copyright: Medical News Today Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today Additional References Citations. We are high quality suppliers, our products such as China Compressed Gas Cylinders , Lp Gas Regulator Manufacturer for oversee buyer. To know more, please visits Compressed Gas Cylinders.
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