Cost Effective Analysis of Interventions to Control High BP in Nigeria

Emerging evidence shows that the prevalence of hypertension is on the rise in most African countries while control remains poor. There are effective interventions which could be implemented in hospitals of low resource setting to improve control of blood pressure among hypertensive patients. The objectives of this study were therefore to calculate the costs, effects, and evaluate the cost-effectiveness of three interventions (i.e. self monitoring, health professional led care and organization driven interventions) that could be implemented in Nigeria s hospitals to ensure continuity of care and improved control of blood pressure in hypertensive patients. The study employed a decision analytic modelling. Probabilistic cost-effectiveness analysis was performed using Markov Chain Monte Carlo simulation, and presented as cost-effectiveness acceptability curves and frontiers. The result of this study shows that health professional led care through a pharmaceutical care model or nurse led care is the most cost-effective option for ensuring that patients with high blood pressure are adequately followed for better control of blood pressure.

Autorentext

Obinna Ekwunife (Ph.D) is a lecturer with the Department of Clinical Pharmacy and pharmacy Management in Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Nigeria. He has a combined teaching and research experience of over 7 years in pharmacoeconomics and outcomes research. He has published widely in various international journals.