The results of a survey of physicians about the Japanese Society of Hypertension Guidelines for the Management of Hypertension 2014 and its clinical use.

The current study investigated physicians' awareness and use of the Japanese Society of Hypertension Guidelines for the Management of Hypertension 2014 (JSH2014) and is based on the results of a survey performed by the Publicity and Advertisement Committee of JSH. A questionnaire was used to survey physicians' awareness of the JSH2014, their recommended target blood pressure for hypertensive patients with complications and their use of antihypertensive drugs. Physicians who downloaded a PDF version of JSH2014 during the 6 months after its publication (April-September 2014) were asked to complete an online questionnaire. Of the 7872 respondents, 91% were aware of the JSH and complied partially, mostly or completely with it in their practice. With reference to hypertensive patients, ∼70% of physicians who completed the questionnaire recommended a target blood pressure (BP) of 140/90 mm Hg for an office BP value, and 40% recommended 135/85 mm Hg for a home BP value. Physicians recommended target BP levels of 130/80 mm Hg for patients with diabetes or chronic kidney disease (50-63% of physician surveyed) and for elderly patients with diabetes or kidney disease (45-55% of respondents), whereas they recommended 140/90 mm Hg for elderly patients with low cardiovascular disease risk (56-60% of physician surveyed) and for patients with chronic-phase stroke (40-47% of respondents). The most commonly prescribed combination of antihypertensive drugs was angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) with calcium channel blocker. In addition, physicians' first choice of drug for patients with diabetes or chronic kidney disease was most often ARB. Overall, the survey results showed that the new recommendations from the JSH2014 accurately reflect daily clinical practices for hypertension management used by Japanese physicians.