[Statins consumption in autonomous communities in Spain: opportunities for savings]

To identify opportunities for reducing the costs of the treatment of hypercholesterolaemia, using cost-effectiveness criteria for selecting statins.

Modelling the costs of prescription guided by cost-effectiveness criteria. The most cost-effective statin was determined by reviewing the cost-effectiveness literature. The frequency with which different ways of reducing LDL-c are required was calculated from epidemiological data. From data on consumption (units) and cost (pesetas) of statin prescription in Spain in 1997, the potential saving to be gained through cost-effective prescription was calculated.

Possible savings in 1997 if statins had been prescribed according to cost-effectiveness criteria were calculated at between 5435 and 7027 million pesetas.

There is a chance of optimising resource allocation in treating hypercholesterolaemia by selecting the most cost-effective statin on the basis of the need for LDL-c reduction.