TC led to a greater decrease in systolic and diastolic BP  than UC .
The differences between TC and UC for systolic BP tend to become larger when no treatment modification is applied .
TC seems a valuable tool for hypertension management
There is an increasing interest for using telecare(TC ) in the management of hypertension .
Economic evaluation of home blood pressure monitoring with or without telephonic behavioral self-management in patients with hypertension.
BACKGROUND The Take Control of Your Blood Pressure trial evaluated the effect of a multicomponent telephonic behavioral lifestyle intervention , patient self-monitoring , and both interventions combined compared with usual care on reducing systolic blood pressure during 24 months . The combined intervention led to a significant reduction in systolic blood pressure compared with usual care alone . We examined direct and patient time costs associated with each intervention . METHODS We conducted a prospect i ve economic evaluation alongside a r and omized controlled trial of 636 patients with hypertension participating in the study interventions .  Medical costs were estimated using electronic data representing medical services delivered within the health system . Intervention-related costs were derived using information collected during the trial , administrative records , and published unit costs . RESULTS During 24 months , patients incurred a mean of $ 6,965 ( s.d . , $ 22,054 ) in inpatient costs and $ 8,676 ( s.d . , $ 9,368 ) in outpatient costs , with no significant differences among the intervention groups . With base-case assumptions , intervention costs were estimated at $ 90 ( s.d . , $ 2 ) for home blood pressure monitoring , $ 345 ( s.d . , $ 64 ) for the behavioral intervention ( $ 31 per telephone encounter ) , and $ 416 ( s.d . , $ 93 ) for the combined intervention . Patient time costs were estimated at $ 585 ( s.d . , $ 487 ) for home monitoring , $ 55 ( s.d . , $ 16 ) for the behavioral intervention , and $ 741 ( s.d . , $ 529 ) for the combined intervention . CONCLUSIONS Our analysis demonstrated that the interventions are cost-additive to the health-care system in the short term and that patients ' time costs are nontrivial
TC led to a greater decrease in systolic and diastolic BP  than UC .
The differences between TC and UC for systolic BP tend to become larger when no treatment modification is applied .
TC seems a valuable tool for hypertension management
There is an increasing interest for using telecare(TC ) in the management of hypertension .