title: Cost-effectiveness of fixed-dose combination of isosorbide dinitrate and hydralazine therapy for blacks with heart failure.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Fixed-dose combination of isosorbide dinitrate/hydralazine (ISDN/HYD) improved clinical outcomes in the African-American Heart Failure Trial (A-HeFT). We assessed the resource use, costs of care, and cost-effectiveness of ISDN/HYD therapy in the A-HeFT trial population.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We obtained resource use data from A-HeFT, assigning costs through the use of US federal sources. Excluding indirect costs, we summarized the within-trial experience and modeled cost-effectiveness over extended time horizons, including a US societal lifetime reference case. During the mean trial follow-up of 12.8 months, the ISDN/HYD group incurred fewer heart failure-related hospitalizations (0.33 versus 0.47 per subject; P=0.002) and shorter mean hospital stays (6.7 versus 7.9 days; P=0.006). When study drug costs were excluded, both heart failure-related and total healthcare costs were lower in the ISDN/HYD group (mean per-subject heart failure-related costs, 5997 dollars versus 9144 dollars; P=0.04; mean per-subject total healthcare costs, 15,384 dollars versus 19,728 dollars; P=0.03). With an average daily drug cost of 6.38 dollars, ISDN/HYD therapy was dominant (reduced costs and improved outcomes) over the trial duration. Assuming that no additional benefits accrue beyond the trial, we project the cost-effectiveness of ISDN/HYD therapy using heart failure-related costs to be 16,600 dollars/life-year at 2 years after enrollment, 37,100 dollars/life-year at 5 years, and 41,800 dollars/life-year over lifetime (reference case).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  ISDN/HYD therapy, previously shown to improve clinical outcomes, also reduced resource use and costs in A-HeFT, primarily because of a large reduction in hospitalizations. Long-term use of ISDN/HYD therapy should be associated with a favorable cost-effectiveness profile in this population.
authors.affiliation: Department of Critical Care Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA. angusdc@upmc.edu
authors.forename: Derek C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Angus
authors.forename: Walter T
authors.initials: WT
authors.lastname: Linde-Zwirble
authors.forename: S William
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Tam
authors.forename: Jalal K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Ghali
authors.forename: Michael L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Sabolinski
authors.forename: Victor G
authors.initials: VG
authors.lastname: Villagra
authors.forename: Wolfgang C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Winkelmayer
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Worcel
mesh_terms: D044383:Black People; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D016527:Drug Costs; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000191:economics* / Q000208:ethnology; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000191:economics; D006801:Humans; D006830:Hydralazine / Q000191:economics* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D007548:Isosorbide Dinitrate / Q000191:economics* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000191:economics; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D001741:Black or African American
chemical_list: D006830:Hydralazine; D007548:Isosorbide Dinitrate