Cost-effectiveness analysis of cardiovascular risk factor screening in women who experienced hypertensive pregnancy disorders at term

ObjectivesTo assess the cost-effectiveness of post-partum screening on cardiovascular risk factors and subsequent treatment in women with a history of gestational hypertension or pre-eclampsia at term.Study designTwo separate Markov models evaluated the cost-effectiveness analysis of hypertension (HT) screening and screening on metabolic syndrome (MetS), respectively, as compared to current practice in women with a history of term hypertensive pregnancy disorders. Analyses were performed from the Dutch health care perspective, using a lifetime horizon. One-way sensitivity analyses and Monte Carlo simulation evaluated the robustness of the results.ResultsBoth screening on HT and MetS in women with a history of gestational hypertension or pre-eclampsia resulted in increase in life expectancy (HT screening 0.23 year (95% CI −0.06 to 0.54); MetS screening 0.14 years (95% CI −0.16 to 0.45)). The gain in QALYs was limited, with HT screening and MetS screening generating 0.04 QALYs (95% CI −0.12 to 0.20) and 0.03 QALYs (95% CI −0.14 to 0.19), resulting in costs to gain one QALY of €4228 and €28,148, respectively. Analyses for uncertainty showed a chance of 74% and 75%, respectively, that post-partum screening is cost-effective at a threshold of €60,000/QALY.ConclusionsAccording to the available knowledge post-partum screening on cardiovascular risk factors and subsequent treatment in women with a history of gestational hypertension or pre-eclampsia at term is likely to be cost-effective.