Cost of Poor Adherence to Anti-Hypertensive Therapy in Europe

Background: The financial burden for EU health systems associated with cardiovascular disease has been estimated to be nearly € 110 billion in 2006, corresponding to 10% of total healthcare expenditure across EU or a mean € 223 annual cost per capita. The main purpose of this study is to estimate the costs related to hypertension and the economic impact of increasing adherence to anti-hypertensive therapy in 5 European countries (Italy, Germany, France, Spain and England). Methods: A probabilistic prevalence-based decision tree model was developed to estimate the direct costs of cardiovascular disease related to hypertension (CV defined as: stroke, heart attack, kidney disease, heart failure) in 5 European countries. Our model considered adherence to hypertension treatment as a main driver of blood pressure control (BP