AIM: To assess the cost of the preventive measures against hypertension and dyslipidemia in French subjects aged 35-64 years.
METHODS: Cross-sectional study conducted in 433 men and 424 women from the three French centres participating in the WHO-MONICA Project and receiving antihypertensive and/or hypolipidemic drug therapy.
RESULTS: In both genders, beta-blockers and ACE inhibitors were the most frequently prescribed antihypertensive drugs, and half of treated hypertensive subjects still had blood pressure levels beyond the normal limits, this percentage being lower in men and in Bas-Rhin. Daily cost of antihypertensive treatment ranged between 0.58 (minimum) and 1.72 [symbol: see text] (maximum) in men and between 0.54 and 1.46 [symbol: see text] in women, with no differences between centers. Fibrates were the most frequently prescribed hypolipidemic drug, and daily cost of treatment ranged between 0.33 and 1.33 [symbol: see text] in men and between 0.36 and 1.26 [symbol: see text] in women; in men, costs were lower in the Communauté Urbaine de Lille. Slightly more than half of the hyperlipidemic subjects had their LDL levels within normal values; no differences were found between centers or genders. Finally, the daily cost of "therapeutic inefficiency" for hypertension and dyslipidemia for age group 35-64 years in France was estimated to be over one million [symbol: see text].
CONCLUSION: The cost of the antihypertensive and hypolipidemic drug treatment is high and efforts should be undertaken in order to increase the efficiency of prevention.