A Round-Up on Cost-Effectiveness of Hypertension Therapy Based on the 2014 Guidelines

Abstract

Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death in the USA. Moreover, hypertension affects approximately 78 million people in the USA and is a major modifiable risk factor. Therefore, elevated blood pressure is listed as the primary contributory cause of death in 15 % of the 2.4 million deaths in 2009. Nonetheless, 44 % of the hypertensive population in the USA did not have it under control in 2014. Hypertension cost was averaged to be 40-50 billion dollars yearly including medications and services and currently rising. New hypertension guidelines recommend treating individuals between ages 35 and 74 with different stages of hypertension. Furthermore, individuals with existing co-morbidities such as chronic kidney disease and diabetes should have increased medication adherence and different blood pressure goal compared to those without co-morbidities. Studies utilizing quality-adjusted life-years (QUALYs) were conducted to asses the cost-effectiveness of treating previously untreated adults with hypertension. On average, treating adults between ages 35 to 74 years could prevent about 50,000 and 13,000 cardiovascular events and deaths, respectively. Overall, treating stage 1 and 2 hypertension adults including emphasis on medication adherence could be effective and cost saving. The purpose of this article is to review different methods and assess cost-effectiveness for hypertension therapy based on the 2014 guidelines.

Tai Chi training as a primary care plan for the prevention and management of hypertension: an opinion and positioning article

“…It is recommended that standard exercise protocols that are consistent with disease progression be explored to improve the reproducibility and generalizability of study results. Hypertension occurs at different ages and in different conditions [ 47 ], and there are fewer trials of traditional exercise therapy across age groups and conditions (e.g. prehypertension, H-type hypertension), which is an important area for future research.…”