Prescribing patterns for hypertension in the Portuguese sentinel practice network – 12 years after

Abstract

Objectives: To determine the treatment profile of hypertension in the Portuguese sentinel practice network and compare the results 12 years after an initial study. Study design: Cross-sectional study Setting: Portuguese sentinel practice network Participants: Hypertensive patients over 18 years of age on the lists of general practitioners in the sentinel practice network who attended a consultation with their physician between June 7, 2010 and December 31, 2010. Results: In 2010, 616 hypertensive patients were included in the study. Between the two periods (1998 and 2010) there was a slight increase in the average age of the participants (62.0 years in 1998 and 64.3 years in 2010), with a higher proportion of female patients in both periods. The mean average duration of hypertension since the time of diagnosis increased significantly (<0.0001). Approximately half of the hypertensive patients presented target organ damage, in both periods with heart disease as the most common lesion. Dyslipidemia, hyperuricemia and diabetes were the most common co-morbid conditions. From 1998 to 2010, the proportion of patients on monotherapy decreased from 47.6% to 30.3%. Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors were the most frequently prescribed drugs for monotherapy in both periods. In 1998, the antihypertensive treatment most frequently prescribed was angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors as monotherapy (24.3%). In 2010 the combination of angiotensin receptor blockers with thiazide diuretics was the most common treatment (15.4%). Conclusions: Drugs acting on the renin-angiotensin system were the antihypertensive drugs most frequently prescribed in both periods as monotherapy and in combination with other drugs. The number of antihypertensive drugs prescribed differed between the two periods in relation to the existence and type of co-morbidities.