Intensive target <120 mm Hg cost-effective even in scenarios with high measurement error<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter<\/b>
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TUESDAY, Aug. 19, 2025 (HealthDay News) — For patients 50 years or older at high cardiovascular risk without diabetes or prior stroke, an intensive systolic blood pressure (SBP) target (<120 mm Hg) seems cost-effective at most settings with measurement error, according to a study published online Aug. 19 in the Annals of Internal Medicine<\/em>.<\/p>\n Karen C. Smith, Ph.D., from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, and colleagues used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey to generate a simulated cohort of adults at high cardiovascular risk who met Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial inclusion criteria and examined the effect of measurement error on the cost-effectiveness of intensive SBP targets. Incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) were compared for SBP targets of less than 120, 130, and 140 mm Hg.<\/p>\n The researchers found that the ICER for the target of less than 120 versus less than 130 mm Hg was $24,400 per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) with research-grade SBP measurement (mean error, 0 mm Hg) in the base-case analysis. The ICER increased to $42,000 per QALY with average measurement error (mean error, 7.3 mm Hg in the <120-mm Hg target). In sensitivity analyses, in scenarios with high error (mean error \u226514.6 mm Hg in the <120-mm Hg target), the ICER for the target of less than 120 mm Hg was greater than $100,000 per QALY, when an inflection point for increasing risk for cardiovascular disease was at or above 116 mm Hg and in scenarios with a medication-taking disutility of at least 0.003 per antihypertensive medication.<\/p>\n “This study should give patients at high cardiovascular risk and their clinicians more confidence in pursuing an intensive blood pressure goal,” Smith said in a statement. “Our findings suggest the intensive <120 mm Hg target prevents more cardiovascular events and provides good value, and this holds true even when measurements aren’t perfect.”<\/p>\n Abstract\/Full Text (subscription or payment may be required)<\/a><\/p>\n Editorial (subscription or payment may be required)<\/a><\/p>\n