Influencia del cumplimiento asociado a la incidencia de eventos cardiovasculares y los costes en combinaciones a dosis fijas en el tratamiento de la hipertensión arterial

Assessment of the Potential Clinical and Economic Impact of Weight Loss in the Adult Population with Obesity and Associated Comorbidities in Spain

INTRODUCTION

Obesity and its complications are associated with high morbidity/mortality and a significant healthcare cost burden in Spain. It is therefore essential to know the potential clinical and economic benefits of reducing obesity. The objective of this study is to predict the decrease in rates of onset of potential complications associated with obesity and the cost savings after a weight loss of 15% over 10 years in Spain.

METHODS

Data were combined in an adapted version of a weight loss benefit simulation model. Sources with demographic information on the Spanish population and the distribution of obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) were used to obtain the data for the model. In addition, use was made of prevalence data on obesity-associated complications from a cohort of patients with obesity in the United Kingdom (UK). These data were combined by age and sex to create a Spanish synthetic cohort.

RESULTS

The simulation showed that, for a cohort of 100,000 individuals with a body mass index (BMI) of 30-50 kg/m2, a weight loss of 15% is estimated to lead to relevant relative risk reductions in obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) (- 56.4%), T2DM (- 39.2%), asthma (- 20.2%) and arterial hypertension (- 18.7%). The estimated overall savings were €105 million for a cohort of 100,000 individuals, mainly resulting from the decrease in T2DM and arterial hypertension (23% and 22% of the total savings at year 10, respectively), as well as osteoarthritis and chronic kidney disease (CKD) (16% and 13%, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS

Sustained weight loss could significantly reduce the burden derived from future complications associated to obesity in Spain, as well as the excess economic cost associated with its treatment.

Management of Hypertension in the Asia-Pacific Region: A Structured Review

This article reviews available evidence regarding hypertension management in the Asia-Pacific region, focussing on five research questions that deal with specific aspects: blood pressure (BP) control, guideline recommendations, role of renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) inhibitors in clinical practice, pharmacological management and real-world adherence to guideline recommendations. A PubMed search identified 2537 articles, of which 94 were considered relevant. Compared with Europeans, Asians have higher systolic/diastolic/mean arterial BP, with a stronger association between BP and stroke. Calcium channel blockers are the most-commonly prescribed monotherapy in Asia, with significant variability between countries in the rates of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEis)/angiotensin-receptor blockers (ARBs) and single-pill combination (SPC) use. In clinical practice, ARBs are used more commonly than ACEis, despite the absence of recommendation from guidelines and clinical evidence supporting the use of one class of drug over the other. Ideally, antihypertensive treatment should be tailored to the individual patient, but currently there are limited data on the characteristics of hypertension in Asia-Pacific individuals. Large outcome studies assessing RAAS inhibitor efficacy and safety in multi-national Asian populations are lacking. Among treated patients, BP control rates were ~ 35 to 40%; BP control in Asia-Pacific is suboptimal, and disproportionately so compared with Western nations. Strategies to improve the management of hypertension include wider access/availability of affordable treatments, particularly SPCs (which improve adherence), effective public health screening programs targeting patients to drive health-seeking behaviours, an increase in physician/patient awareness and early implementation of lifestyle changes. A unified Asia-Pacific guideline on hypertension management with pragmatic recommendations, particularly in resource-limited settings, is essential.

Clinical outcomes and healthcare costs in hypertensive patients treated with a fixed-dose combination of amlodipine/valsartan

This retrospective claims database analysis compared two strategies of hypertension treatment in outpatient, emergency, and inpatient departments: a fixed-dose combination (FDC) of amlodipine/valsartan vs free combinations of angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) and calcium channel blockers (CCBs) (ARB+CCB group). After a mean follow-up of 15.2 months, the FDC group had significantly lower total healthcare costs (US $1844 vs US $2158; P<.001) and hospitalization rates (14.57% vs 18.43%; P<.001), a higher proportion of days covered (80.35% vs 72.57%; P<.001), and better persistence (266 vs 225 days; P<.001) compared with the ARB+CCB group. The FDC group also had a better major adverse cardiovascular event (MACE)-free survival (hazard ratio, 0.83; 95% confidence interval, 0.73-0.94; P=.003) and decreased rates of heart failure (2.12% vs 3.26%; P<.001), malignant dysrhythmia (0.18% vs 0.42%; P=.021), and percutaneous coronary intervention (0.76% vs 1.26%; P=.015). Compared with free combinations of ARB+CCB, an FDC of amlodipine/valsartan improved MACE-free survival and medication compliance and decreased total healthcare costs and hospitalization rates in hypertensive patients.

[Cost-effectiveness analysis of fixed dose antihypertensive drugs]

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study is to compare the efficiency of different fixed-dose combinations of renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) blockers and calcium channel blockers, to use it as a guide to assist the rational prescribing in antihypertensive therapy.

METHODS

The efficacy of each drug was obtained from intervention studies randomized, double-blind, made with these combinations and a utility-cost modeling from the model proposed and used by NICE. The perspective of our analysis is the National Health System and the time horizon is long enough to achieve therapeutic goals.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Cost per mmHg reduction in BP, percentage of reduction necessary to achieve the therapeutic goals for hypertension control and cost, and finally quantity and quality of life gained with these treatments in patients with hypertension, diabetes.

RESULTS

We studied three fixed-dose combinations: amlodipine/olmesartán, amlodipine/valsartan and manidipine/delapril. The cost per mmHg systolic BP ranged from 24.93 to 12.34 €/mmHg, and diastolic BP ranged from 34.24 to 18.76 €/mmHg, depending on the drug used. For an initial value of 165mmHg systolic BP the most efficient treatment to achieve the therapeutic goal of hypertension control (<140mmHg) is manidipine/delapril with a cost of 67.76 €. The use of these drugs to control diabetic and hypertensive patients resulted in all cases being cost-effective (more effective and lower cost compared to "no treatment"). Manidipine/delapril showed the best relation cost-utility (1,970 €/QALY (quality-adjusted life year)) followed by amlodipine/olmesartan and amlodipine/valsartan (2,087 and 2,237 €/QALY, respectively).

Real-life treatment patterns, compliance, persistence, and medication costs in patients with hypertension in Germany

OBJECTIVE

This retrospective patient data analysis was initiated to describe current treatment patterns of patients in Germany with arterial hypertension, with a special focus on compliance, persistence, and medication costs of fixed-dose and unfixed combinations of angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs), amlodipine (AML) and hydrochlorothiazide (HCT) in Germany.

METHODS

The study analyzed prescription data collected by general practitioners, using the IMS Disease Analyzer database. The database was searched for patients with the diagnosis hypertension (ICD-10 code I10) and treatment data in the period 09/2009 to 08/2010. Compliance was measured indirectly based on the medication possession ratio (MPR), and persistence was defined as the duration of time from initiation to discontinuation of therapy. Medication costs were assessed from the statutory health insurance perspective in Germany.

RESULTS

In the IMS DA 406,888 observable patients in Germany were encoded with the diagnosis I10 essential hypertension. In total, 88,716 patients received prescriptions including ARBs, monotherapy (18.6%) or unfixed combinations with other anti-hypertensives (19.3%). The compliance with fixed-dose combinations of ARB with HCT, either dual or with one other anti-hypertensive drug, was significantly better, compared to unfixed combinations (mean compliance 78.1% for fixed-dose vs 71.5% for unfixed combinations of ARB with HCT, p < 0.0001; mean compliance 79.4% vs 72.0%, p < 0.0001 if an additional anti-hypertensive medication was added). Fixed-dose combinations of ARB with HCT, ARB with AML, dual only or prescribed with another anti-hypertensive medication resulted in a substantial increase of persistence, especially for patients on fixed-dose dual combinations (225.7 vs 163.6 days for ARB with HCT; 232.9 vs 178.4 days for ARB with AML, respectively). Fixed-dose combinations (varying from €1.38 to €2.20 per patient and day) were on average cheaper than unfixed combinations.

LIMITATIONS

Persistence and compliance could be under- or over-estimated because their assessment was based on prescription information. For two thirds of 69,060 patients, data on compliance and persistence was missing.

CONCLUSION

The study shows considerable variations in ARB treatment patterns among patients, with the majority of patients treated with fixed-dose or semi-fixed combination therapy. Fixed-dose combinations of ARBs with HCT and/or AML seem to result in better compliance and persistence compared to unfixed regimes of these drug classes, leading to reduction in all-cause hospitalizations, emphasizing the benefit and potential cost-savings of using fixed-dose regimes in a real-life general practice setting in Germany.