The current cost of angina pectoris to the National Health Service in the UK.
OBJECTIVE
To calculate the cost of angina pectoris to the UK National Health Service (NHS) in the year 2000.


METHODS
Calculation of the cost of hospital admissions, revascularisation procedures, hospital outpatient consultations, general practice (GP) consultations, and prescribed drug treatment.


RESULTS
634 000 individuals (1.1% of the UK population) consulted GPs 2.35 million times, costing pound 60.5 million. They required 16.0 million prescriptions (cost pound 80.7 million) and 254 000 hospital outpatient referrals (cost pound 30.4 million). There were 149 000 hospital admissions, 117 000 coronary angiograms, 21 400 coronary artery bypass operations, 17 700 percutaneous coronary interventions, and 516 000 outpatient visits, at a cost of pound 208.4 million, pound 69.9 million, pound 106.2 million, pound 60.7 million, and pound 52.2 million, respectively. The direct cost of angina was therefore pound 669 million (1.3% of total NHS expenditure), with hospital bed occupancy and procedures accounting for 32% and 35% of this total, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
Angina is a common and costly public health problem. It consumed over 1% of all NHS expenditure in the year 2000, mainly because of hospital bed occupancy and revascularisation procedures. This is likely to be a conservative estimate of its true cost.
Stewart
S
S
Department of Cardiology, Western Infirmary, Glasgow, UK.
Murphy
N F
NF
Murphy
N
N
Walker
A
A
McGuire
A
A
McMurray
J J V
JJ
D000553:Ambulatory Care / Q000191:economics; D000787:Angina Pectoris / Q000191:economics* / Q000628:therapy; D006348:Cardiac Surgical Procedures / Q000191:economics; D003153:Community Health Services / Q000191:economics; D017281:Cost of Illness; D011307:Drug Prescriptions / Q000191:economics; D005194:Family Practice / Q000191:economics; D005260:Female; D017048:Health Care Costs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005102:Health Expenditures; D017721:Hospital Costs; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013222:State Medicine / Q000191:economics*; D006113:United Kingdom