Drug treatment of hypertension: compliance and adverse reactions in a cohort of hypertensive patients in a primary care setting.

OBJECTIVES: The primary was to assess the frequency of therapeutic non-compliance due to ADRs in a cohort of patients with recently diagnosed systemic hypertension. The secondary objectives were to evaluate the blood pressure control during the follow-up in the whole cohort and in patients who received non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).
METHODS: A cohort of 73 recently diagnosed ambulatory hypertensive patients was followed-up for 6 months. Validated questionnaires for identification of therapeutic scheme changes and ADRs were applied monthly, during each medical visit.
RESULTS: Family physicians selected monotherapy in 79% of patients. The frequency of therapeutic non-compliance was 44%; non-compliance secondary to ADR was 7%. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure at the beginning of the study were 140 +/- 15/90 +/- 15 mm Hg for the whole cohort. At the end of the study the figures were 130 +/- 11/85 +/- 6 (p < 0.001). Patients receiving non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) had higher blood pressure levels than the groups of patients not receiving such kind of drugs (134 +/- 10 vs. 128 +/- 8 mm Hg, p = 0.025 and 88 +/- 7 vs. 83 +/- 5 mm Hg, p = 0.05).
CONCLUSIONS: The drugs used in the present study as monotherapy are considered acceptable choices for hypertension treatment. The frequency of therapeutic non-compliance was within the limits reported in the literature and the frequency of therapeutic non-compliance secondary to ADRs in this cohort was lower than that reported in the literature. Higher blood pressure was found in the group of patients receiving NSAIDs.