Long Term Cost-Effectiveness of a Systolic Blood Pressure Goal of <120 mmHg in Hypertensive Patients Without Diabetes Mellitus.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the cost-effectiveness of intensive blood pressure (BP) treatment in patients at high risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) over their lifetime in Saudi Arabia. METHODS: A Markov model was developed for the BP strategies to estimate the added lifetime costs and quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) gained. These 2 items were then used to develop an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER). Event rates were estimated from the Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial, and the other model inputs were retrieved from previous studies. Estimated costs were collected from 5 private hospitals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The model used a lifetime framework adopting healthcare payer in Saudi Arabia. Sensitivity analysis was conducted using 1-way and probabilistic sensitivity analysis to evaluate the robustness and uncertainty of the estimates. RESULTS: Over a 30-year period, intensive BP therapy would be cost-effective compared with the standard treatment with incremental costs per QALY, in US dollars, of $24 056. Probabilistic sensitivity analysis suggested intensive BP treatment would be cost-effective compared with standard treatment 86.7% of the time at a willingness-to-pay threshold of $$60 000 per QALY. CONCLUSION: The result of this study showed that intensive BP treatment appears to be a cost-effective choice for patients with a high risk of CVD in Saudi Arabia when compared with standard treatment.

Clinical Characteristics and Outcomes Among COVID-19 Hospitalized Patients with Chronic Conditions: A Retrospective Single-Center Study.

PURPOSE: Evidence to date suggests that having chronic conditions increases the probability of severe illness from severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Thus, it is essential to identify the features of those patients. The purpose of this research was to identify the clinical characteristics and outcomes of COVID-19 patients with chronic conditions. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A retrospective cross-sectional single-center study was conducted using electronic medical records of hospitalized COVID-19 patients between March 1, 2020, and May 20, 2020. Patients' basic information, laboratory test, clinical data, medications, and outcome data have been extracted and compared among three groups: patients without chronic conditions, patients with one chronic condition, and patients with two or more chronic conditions. Chi-square, Fisher's exact test, Student's t-test, and the Mann-Whitney U-test were used. RESULTS: The study population was 458 patients, with an average age of 38.8 years (standard deviation (SD) 12.8). There were 398 (86.9%) males in the study population, most of them with one chronic condition. There were 14 (14.3%) smokers, and the majority of them were among patients with two or more chronic conditions. Longer hospital stay and time in the intensive care unit (ICU), a higher probability of ICU admission, and the need for mechanical ventilation were identified among patients with two or more chronic conditions. Dyspnea, an increased level of platelet counts, and a reduction in hemoglobin levels were discovered among patients with two or more chronic conditions. CONCLUSION: Patients with more chronic conditions were at higher risk of yielding poor clinical outcomes. Prevention and treatment of infections in these patients merit more attention.