Evaluation of Cost and Different Treatment Alternatives for Hypertensive Patients in a Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital, Davangere

Author(s)

Londhe, S.P., Silvy, S., Sridevi, S.S., Cherian, T.S., Baishnab, S.

Author's Affiliation

Abstract

Hypertension is a prevalent chronic disease strongly related to the development of cerebrovascular, cardiovascular diseases leading to increased morbidity and mortality. This study aims to review the antihypertensive use, the cost of the antihypertensives, and implications on management in our local setting. A prospective review of the annual cost of antihypertensive medications was undertaken at a Tertiary care teaching hospital, Davangere. Seventy eight case records of the patients were identified, assessed, evaluated and analyzed for the cost of antihypertensives for a period of 1 month, 3 months and 1 year. The comparative studies of the drugs prescribed were also done to find the effectiveness of the antihypertensive regimen. The majority of patients were either on 2 (50%) or 3(29.49%) antihypertensive drugs. The mostly prescribed medications were Calcium Channel Blockers (33.84%), Angiotensin Receptor Blockers (15.38%), Diuretics (14.61%) followed by other drugs. In terms of cost, α-adrenergic blockers were the most costly drugs followed by ARB’s, ACE’s, and CCB’s. Diuretics were the preferred first line antihypertensive regimen and the most cheapest drug of all the classes. Comparative studies shows that ARB’s (Telmisartan) were the most efficacious drug of all the classes and the drug combination of ARB’s plus CCB’s were considered more effective than a combination of ARB’S or CCB’s with a diuretic. The cost has huge monetary implications as they represent a large proportion of the annual antihypertensive allocation. There may be a need to reverse the trend in developing world due to cost restrictions.

Keywords

Hypertension, Evaluation, Blood Pressure, Cost

Cite This Article

Londhe, S.P., Silvy, S., Sridevi, S.S., Cherian, T.S., Baishnab, S. (2015). Evaluation of Cost and Different Treatment Alternatives for Hypertensive Patients in a Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital, Davangere, International Journal for Pharmaceutical Research Scholars (IJPRS), 4(1), 178-187.