Table 1. Lifetime costs, QALYs, and ICER values for intensive versus standard blood pressure control strategies.
| Outcome | Total cost, international dollarsa | Incremental cost, international dollars (95% UI)b | QALYs | Incremental QALYs (95% UI)b | ICER (international dollars per QALY) (95% UI)b | Probability of being cost-effective, below 1× GDP per capita | Probability of being cost-effective, below 2× GDP per capita |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | |||||||
| Intensive treatment | 11,395 | 3,777 (−208, 8,286) | 9.87 | 0.38 (0.13, 0.71) | 10,997 (−752, 29,027) | 0.828 | 0.981 |
| Standard treatment | 7,861 | 9.51 | |||||
| Male | |||||||
| Intensive treatment | 11,203 | 3,806 (−188, 8,347) | 10.09 | 0.34 (0.12, 0.63) | 12,259 (−773, 33,292) | 0.769 | 0.974 |
| Standard treatment | 7,679 | 9.74 | |||||
| Female | |||||||
| Intensive treatment | 11,723 | 3,659 (−86, 7,984) | 9.51 | 0.46 (0.16, 0.84) | 9,004 (−354, 23,427) | 0.912 | 0.988 |
| Standard treatment | 8,172 | 9.12 | |||||
| Age < 75 years | |||||||
| Intensive treatment | 12,285 | 4,103 (−196, 9,025) | 10.75 | 0.41 (0.14, 0.77) | 11,119 (−722, 29,299) | 0.820 | 0.981 |
| Standard treatment | 8,461 | 10.35 | |||||
| Age ≥ 75 years | |||||||
| Intensive treatment | 7,695 | 2,357 (−97, 5,056) | 6.21 | 0.25 (0.10, 0.43) | 10,176 (−373, 26,429) | 0.859 | 0.984 |
| Standard treatment | 5,365 | 6.02 | |||||
| SBP 130–139 mm Hg | |||||||
| Intensive treatment | 11,375 | 3,914 (−178, 8,566) | 10.21 | 0.33 (0.11, 0.60) | 13,277 (−920, 33,474) | 0.729 | 0.973 |
| Standard treatment | 7,657 | 9.87 | |||||
| SBP ≥ 140 mm Hg | |||||||
| Intensive treatment | 11,403 | 3,682 (−175, 8,076) | 9.71 | 0.42 (0.15, 0.77) | 9,916 (−598, 26,158) | 0.883 | 0.984 |
| Standard treatment | 7,957 | 9.34 |
aTo convert cost input to Chinese currency, one would multiply the cost by the purchasing power parity (PPP) rate (in this case, 3.54). Total cost includes antihypertension treatment costs, cost of complications, and serious adverse event costs.
bProbabilistic analyses based on running the model 1,000 times with the use of randomly selected values for input measurements from predefined distributions. The UIs show the 2.5 to 97.5 percentiles for the incremental differences in costs and QALYs. The uncertainty of the ICER, which was calculated as the cost per QALY gained, is shown by the probability that intensive control is cost-effective at the specified willingness-to-pay thresholds.
ICER, incremental cost-effectiveness ratio; QALY, quality-adjusted life-year; SBP, systolic blood pressure; UI, uncertainty interval.