Economics of drug treatment: for which patients is it costeffective to lower cholesterol?
Today's society places a great emphasis on value for money, so medical interventions must not only be shown to be effective but also be proved to be costeffective. Drug treatment is no exception. In health economics, costeffectiveness is calculated differently depending on the indication and the perspective. For cholesterol-lowering drugs (as an example) there is a difference between primary and secondary intervention. In primary prevention, the cut off value for absolute risk when treatment is costeffective varies with age and sex, but in secondary prevention, although treatment is costeffective for all groups of patients, costeffectiveness varies with age, sex, cholesterol concentration, and other risk factors. There are three complementary approaches to economic assessment of secondary prevention-analysis of the whole population, subgroup analysis, and modelling.
Jönsson
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Centre for Health Economics, Stockholm School of Economics, Box 6501, S-113 83, Stockholm, Sweden. hebj@hhs.se
D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000924:Anticholesteremic Agents / Q000191:economics / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D003376:Counseling; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000191:economics; D006801:Humans; D006937:Hypercholesterolemia / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000191:economics; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019057:Quality-Adjusted Life Years; D012307:Risk Factors; D017678:Sex Distribution
D000924:Anticholesteremic Agents