Patients with high blood pressure are less likely to be struck by a serious cardiovascular events when they are treated using a single tablet regimen (STR) rather than multiple tablets, an analysis has found.

The report, published in the Journal of Medical Economics, found that STRs could reduce the cost of complications, such as hospital admissions, in hypertensive patients. The authors concluded that this meant that, despite being more expensive than multiple tablet treatments, STRs would effectively be 'cost-neutral' to the health service.

The retrospective study used a primary care database to look at more than 28,000 pratients. It found that, over a five-year period, 8.3 per cent of the 9,929 hypertensive patients on an STR experienced a serious cardiovascular event – compared with 13.6 per cent of the 18,665 patients on individual component therapies.

STRs could also be used at a "similar" cost, the authors found – with a mean annual management cost of £191.49 per patient compared with £189.35 for individual therapies when factors such as drug costs and hospital admissions were considered.

The report suggested that STRs reduced the risk of serious cardiovascular events and could tackle poor adherence

NHS drug bill: anomalies, insights and trends Managing health conditions Update: Atrial fibrillation

Health economist and lead author of the study Jonathan Belsey said the findings could benefit both patients and the NHS. "This analysis shows that treatment with the STR resulted in a clinical benefit to patients through the reduction in cardiovascular events and a benefit to the NHS by reducing healthcare costs associated with complications of poor blood pressure control, particularly heart attacks and stroke," he explained.

The authors also suggested that STRs could help tackle poor adherence, which they believed was a "key factor" in patients not meeting their blood pressure targets. The report cited clinical studies conducted in 2007 and 2010, which suggested STRs could boost compliance by up to 25 per cent.

"Many patients suffering from hypertension struggle with adherence because they have to remember to take numerous tablets every day to treat their condition," said Graham MacGregor, professor of cardiovascular medicine and chairman of the Blood Pressure Association. "STRs offer a simplified treatment regimen and their wider use could help with adherence, no doubt leading to better blood pressure control and helping to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke."

It is estimated that 8.5 million people in the UK suffer from hypertension, with almost 2 million prescribed three or more treatments for their blood pressure.