TY - JOUR
T1 - Costs and Effectiveness of Routine Therapy with Long-Term Beta-Adrenergic Antagonists after Acute Myocardial Infarction
AU - Goldman, L.
AU - Sia, S. T B
AU - Cook, E. F.
AU - Rutherford, J. D.
AU - Weinstein, M. C.
PY - 1988/7/21
Y1 - 1988/7/21
N2 - We analyzed the costs and effectiveness of routine therapy with beta-adrenergic antagonists in patients who survived an acute myocardial infarction. On the basis of data pooled from the literature, this form of therapy resulted in a 25 percent relative reduction annually in the mortality rate for years 1 to 3 and a 7 percent relative reduction for years 4 to 6 after a myocardial infarction. The estimated cost of six years of routine beta-adrenergic-antagonist therapy to save an additional year of life was $23,400 in low-risk patients, $5,900 in medium-risk patients, and $3,600 in high-risk patients, assuming that the entire benefit of earlier treatment is lost immediately after six years. Under a more likely assumption — that the benefit of six years of treatment wears off gradually over the subsequent nine years — the estimated cost of therapy per year of life saved would be $13,000 in low-risk patients, $3,600 in medium-risk patients, and $2,400 in high-risk patients. As compared with coronary-artery bypass grafting and the medical treatment of hypertension, routine beta-adrenergic-antagonist therapy has a relatively favorable cost-effectiveness ratio. (N Engl J Med 1988; 319:152–7).
AB - We analyzed the costs and effectiveness of routine therapy with beta-adrenergic antagonists in patients who survived an acute myocardial infarction. On the basis of data pooled from the literature, this form of therapy resulted in a 25 percent relative reduction annually in the mortality rate for years 1 to 3 and a 7 percent relative reduction for years 4 to 6 after a myocardial infarction. The estimated cost of six years of routine beta-adrenergic-antagonist therapy to save an additional year of life was $23,400 in low-risk patients, $5,900 in medium-risk patients, and $3,600 in high-risk patients, assuming that the entire benefit of earlier treatment is lost immediately after six years. Under a more likely assumption — that the benefit of six years of treatment wears off gradually over the subsequent nine years — the estimated cost of therapy per year of life saved would be $13,000 in low-risk patients, $3,600 in medium-risk patients, and $2,400 in high-risk patients. As compared with coronary-artery bypass grafting and the medical treatment of hypertension, routine beta-adrenergic-antagonist therapy has a relatively favorable cost-effectiveness ratio. (N Engl J Med 1988; 319:152–7).
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0023800062&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=0023800062&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1056/NEJM198807213190306
DO - 10.1056/NEJM198807213190306
M3 - Article
C2 - 2898733
AN - SCOPUS:0023800062
SN - 0028-4793
VL - 319
SP - 152
EP - 157
JO - New England Journal of Medicine
JF - New England Journal of Medicine
IS - 3
ER -