Burden of illness of hypertension among women using menopausal hormone therapy: a US perspective

Objective: To estimate the burden of illness (BOI) of hypertension in a cohort of women receiving menopausal hormone therapy (HT). Methods: Patients with at least one prescription for menopausal HT were selected from the PharMetrics database during the period July 1, 2003, to June 30, 2005. Hormone therapy patients were divided into those with and without hypertension. The nonhypertensive cohort was propensity score-matched to the hypertensive cohort, controlling for patient demographics, overall comorbidities, and type of HT use. The BOI of hypertension in the menopausal HT cohort was defined as the difference in average annual total healthcare expenditures per person between the cohorts. Results: The prevalence of menopausal HT use was 9.75% among potentially eligible patients in this commercially insured sample. Hypertension was the most common comorbidity in the menopausal HT cohort, with a prevalence of 34%. Hormone therapy patients with hypertension (n = 106,729) had significantly higher average annual healthcare expenditures compared to matched HT patients without hypertension ($8908 vs. $5960 per person per year; difference of $2948; p<0.001). Conclusions: Hypertension is the most common comorbidity among menopausal HT users in the United States. The annual BOI of hypertension is both substantial and significant when compared to matched patients without hypertension, averaging $ 2948 per patient per year.