ECONOMIC COMPARISON OF DRUG AND LIFE-STYLE TREATMENT OF CARDIOVASCULAR RISK-FACTORS IN HIGH-RISK PATIENTS

1. Lifestyle interventions are routinely used in the treatment of cardiovascular risk factors in individual patients but their cost-effectiveness relative to drug treatment is largely unknown. 2. Drug treatment is effective at normalizing risk factors and is known to decrease morbidity and mortality though costs may be high. Lifestyle interventions carry a significant potential to reduce expenditure on drugs, but prospective studies on cost-effectiveness of lifestyle interventions favour drug treatment. 3. According to current evidence, lifestyle intervention in high-risk patients is not more cost-effective than drug treatment.