[Antihypertensive treatment. Prescription and cost of drugs. Survey in a tertiary care hospital].
OBJECTIVE
To study the most prescribed anti-hypertensive drugs, evaluating their agreement with established guidelines and drug cost.


METHODS
One hundred and forty one (101 women, mean age = 53.3 years) hypertensive patients who searched spontaneous attention were interviewed in a tertiary-care hospital. The inclusion criteria were previous diagnosis of hypertension and non cardiovascular complaints.


RESULTS
The majority of the 107 (75.9%) patients were on medical treatment. In those receiving monotherapy, thiazides were the most utilized drugs, followed by methyldopa, ACE inhibitors, calcium channel-blockers, and beta-blockers. The association with thiazides (26.3%) followed the same preference. The second most prescribed drug, methyldopa, was the more expensive. Fifty percent of the patients purchased the drugs at their own expense.


CONCLUSIONS
A preference for prescription of expensive drugs for hypertension was detected in this sample in Brazil. This does not agree with major guidelines, mainly the V-JNC, which suggest thiazides and betablockers as first choice drugs for hypertensives with no complications or associated comorbidity.
Akashi
D
D
Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina da USP.
Issa
F K
FK
Pereira
A C
AC
Tannuri
A C
AC
Fucciolo
D Q
DQ
Lobato
M L
ML
Galvão
T G
TG
Benseñor
I M
IM
Lotufo
P A
PA
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000959:Antihypertensive Agents / Q000191:economics* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001938:Brazil; D016527:Drug Costs; D011307:Drug Prescriptions; D004363:Drug Utilization; D005260:Female; D006761:Hospitals; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000191:economics*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
D000959:Antihypertensive Agents
Tratamento anti-hipertensivo. Prescrição e custo de medicamentos. Pesquisa em hospital terciario.