| Autor: |
Wong, Martin C.S., Tam, Wilson W.S., Cheung, Clement S.K., Tong, Ellen L.H., Sek, Antonio C.H., Cheung, N.T., Yan, Bryan P.Y., Yu, Cheuk-Man, Griffiths, Sian M. |
| Předmět: |
|
| Zdroj: |
American Journal of Hypertension; Jul2013, Vol. 26 Issue 7, p931-938, 8p |
| Abstrakt: |
BACKGROUND International guidelines recommending antihypertensive prescriptions for the management of hypertension have been published in the past decade. Beta-blocker use was discouraged by a significant body of evidence and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) or angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) were found more effective among younger patients. This study aims to evaluate the trends in prescription profiles in a large Chinese population because patterns of antihypertensive agent dispensation represent important information for physicians and policymakers. METHODS From clinical databases consisting of all patient records in the public health-care system of Hong Kong, we examined all antihypertensive prescriptions according to the drug classes (thiazide diuretics, alpha-blockers, beta-blockers, calcium channel blockers (CCBs), ACEIs, ARBs, fixed-dose combinations, and polytherapy (2, ≥3)) between 2001 and 2010. We retrieved >6.3 million prescription episodes for 223,287 patients. RESULTS The average age of the patients was 59.9 years (SD = 17.6), and 54.8% were women. According to prescription episodes, the most commonly prescribed medications were beta-blockers (31.7%) and CCBs (29.2%), followed by ACEIs (13.9%), thiazide diuretics (5.0%), and alpha-blockers (4.5%). Between 2001 and 2010, the prescription proportions of beta-blockers decreased from 41.5% to 21.5%, whereas that of ARBs increased from 0.5% to 1.0% (P < 0.001, χ2 test for trend). It was found that the decline of beta-blockers (71.0% to 35.4%) and increase in ARB prescriptions (0.4% to 1.0%) were particularly marked among younger subjects aged <55 years. CONCLUSIONS These findings provided information on the prescription patterns of antihypertensive agents in a large Chinese population. It sets a future research direction to study the various reasons influencing these drug class–specific trends. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Databáze: |
Complementary Index |
| Externí odkaz: |
|
