HEALTH CARE COSTS OF LOSARTAN AND CANDESARTAN IN THE PRIMARY TREATMENT OF HYPERTENSION: 6C.07

Abstract

A recentstudy of two widely used angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) reported a reduced risk of cardiovascular events (−14.4%) when treating patients with candesartan compared to losartan in the primary treatment of hypertension. In addition to clinical benefits, costs associated with treatment strategies must be considered when allocating scarce health-care resources. The aim of this study was to assess resource use and costs of losartan and candesartan in hypertensive patients. Resource use (drugs, outpatient contacts, hospitalisations, and laboratory tests) associated with losartan and candesartan treatment was estimated in 14,100 patients in a real-life clinical setting. We electronically extracted patient data from primary care records and mandatory Swedish national registers for death and hospitalisation. Patients treated with losartan had more outpatient contacts (+15.6%), laboratory tests (+13.8%), and hospitalisations (+13.8%) compared with the candesartan group. During a maximum observation time of 9 years the mean total costs per patient were 10,435 Swedish kronor (SEK) (95% CI 3,086 to 17,783) higher in the losartan group. Prescribing candesartan for the primary treatment of hypertension results in lower long-term health-care costs compared with losartan.