Efficacy, safety, and quality-of-life assessment of captopril antihypertensive therapy in clinical practice.

Successful long-term treatment of hypertension must include consideration of individual patients' life-style interfaced with the potential for adverse drug events. In a postmarketing surveillance study, 30,515 patients received captopril monotherapy and were evaluated by 7792 physicians. Mean systolic and diastolic blood pressures were reduced 17 and 11 mm Hg, respectively. Mean diastolic blood pressure was reduced 10% for patients with mild hypertension; larger mean reductions were noted for patients with moderate (16.5%) and severe (21.5%) hypertension. Captopril therapy was equally effective in all races (white, Hispanic, and black patients), age groups, and in isolated instances of systolic hypertension. Only 4.9% of patients reporting an adverse event required discontinuation of therapy. Headache (1.8%) and dizziness (1.6%) were the most frequently reported adverse events. Quality-of-life measures improved.