Economic Burden of Drug Therapy in Hypertension Management in a Private Teaching Hospital in Nigeria

Background: Information on economic burden of hypertension is needed for relevant decisions and policies due to escalating cost of disease management.
Aims: The study assessed economic burden of pharmacotherapy in hypertension management on the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) of Nigeria and the economies of antihypertensives selection.
Study Design: Cross-sectional study.
Place and Duration of Study: Out-patient-department of a private teaching hospital located in Lagos, Nigeria over four-month duration in 2011.
Methodology: Two hundred and fifty case notes of hypertensive patients were randomly selected. These were assessed for costs of pharmacotherapeutic management of hypertension. Patients’ details such as demographic data, drug regimens and funding status were extracted from the case notes. Drugs’ prices were obtained from the hospital billing guide. Data presentation was by using descriptive statistics.
Results: Two hundred and eight (83.2%) of the selected case notes met the study criteria. Diuretics were the most economical at an average monthly cost per prescription of NGN858.6 ($5.51) followed by the beta-blockers at NGN1,101.1 ($7.07) while fixed dose combinations were the costliest at NGN10,425.0 ($66.93). Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) having 104 (50.0%) of the cohort as enrollees incurred most of the cost at NGN446, 325.0 ($2,865.47) followed by NHIS 75 (36.0%) at NGN321, 354.0 ($2,063.14). An average monthly cost of antihypertensives per patient was highest for private patients NGN4, 314.47 ($27.69) and least for NHIS NGN4, 284.72 ($27.50). The national cost implication using the least average monthly antihypertensive cost per patient of NGN4,284 .72 ($27.50) for NHIS implies an average of NGN51,416.64 ($330.10) per annum for each patient and a whooping sum in excess of NGN1.054 trillion (over $6.76billion) for over 20 million affected hypertensive patients in Nigeria.
Conclusion: Cost burden of hypertension management is high, incurred mostly by HMOs and NHIS. Diuretics were the most economical of all prescribed regimens.