MAIN ANALYSIS
A status quo simulation provided a projection of events from coronary heart disease and stroke, costs, and QALYs for the U.S. adult population between the ages of 35 and 74 years during the period from 2014 through 2024, on the assumption that untreated patients would remain untreated. Simulated strategies for hypertension treatments reduced events from coronary heart disease and stroke, reduced costs, and added QALYs. We assumed that hypertension treatment would reduce rates of death from hypertensive heart disease and renal failure, but to be conservative, we assumed no change in future costs associated with these effects. In an analysis of secondary prevention, we simulated treatment to a target blood pressure of 140/90 mm Hg in patients with hypertension who were currently untreated and who had a history of stroke or coronary heart disease (approximately one fifth of patients with chronic cardiovascular disease).8 For primary prevention, we simulated three treatment groups, with each group added to treatment in patients with cardiovascular disease and untreated hypertension: patients with stage 2 hypertension, patients with stage 1 hypertension and diabetes or chronic kidney disease, and patients with stage 1 hypertension but without diabetes or chronic kidney disease. We assessed incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (which were calculated as the incremental change in costs divided by the incremental change in QALYs) as follows: costs of less than $50,000 per QALY gained were considered to be cost-effective, costs ranging from $50,000 to less than $150,000 per QALY gained were considered to be of intermediate value, and costs of $150,000 or more per QALY gained were considered to be of low value.7 All analyses were approached from a payer’s perspective. All future costs and QALYs were discounted annually by 3% of the values for the previous year, according to standard practice.