Evaluating the Cost-Effectiveness of Folic Acid Versus Methyltetrahydrofolate in Preventing Preeclampsia in Makassar, Indonesia

Abstract

Background: Preeclampsia is a condition of elevated blood pressure with proteinuria that occurs during pregnancy and is a complication of elevated blood pressure. It usually occurs after the 20th week of pregnancy. This could be fatal for the mother after birth and the baby if it occurs before birth. The goal of this study is to investigate the risk, cost-effectiveness, and effective doses of folic acid (B9). Method: This study is an observational study with a cohort design and random simple sampling data collection. Data was collected from the Cahaya Ibu Pharmacy Store in Makassar from 164 patients. Result: Chi-square statistical analysis data showed a significant risk relationship between pregnant women and the development of hypertension compared with nonpregnant patients, with a p-value of 0.001. Her risk level for the event reaches twice, as evidenced by her odds ratio reaching 6.9 times. The results of cost analytics showed folic acid had an equal effect on women's reduced risk of preeclampsia as methyltetrahydrofolate. Conclusions: Using folic acid early in pregnancy planning is a great opportunity to reduce the incidence of preeclampsia. The ICER value was obtained at $0.293, so an increase in the cost of that amount was needed to improve the effectiveness of therapy by patients using folic acid compared to patients with methyltetrahydrofolate therapy. Therefore, folic acid is more cost-effective compared to methyltetrahydrofolate.