Baseline characteristics of the diabetic participants in the Antihypertensive and Lipid-Lowering Treatment to Prevent Heart Attack Trial (ALLHAT).
OBJECTIVE
Hypertension (HTN) is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD) in the setting of diabetes. There is no consensus on how best to treat hypertension among those with diabetes. Here we describe the characteristics of a cohort of hypertensive adults with diabetes who are part of a large prospective blood pressure study. This study will help clarify the treatment of HTN in the setting of diabetes.


METHODS
The Antihypertensive and Lipid-Lowering high-risk hypertensive participants, ages > or = 55 years, designed to determine whether the incidence of fatal and nonfatal coronary heart disease (CHD) and combined cardiovascular events (fatal and nonfatal CHD, revascularization surgery, angina pectoris, congestive heart failure, and stroke) differs between diuretic (chlorthalidone) treatment and three alternative antihypertensive therapies: a calcium channel blocker (amlodipine), an ACE inhibitor (lisinopril), and an alpha-adrenergic blocker (doxazosin). The planned follow-up is an average of 6 years, to be completed March 2002.


RESULTS
There are 15,297 diabetic individuals in the ALLHAT study (36.0% of the entire cohort). Of these individuals, 50.2% are male, 39.4% are African-American, and 17.7% are Hispanic. Demographic and laboratory characteristics of the cohort are similar to those of other studies of the U.S. elderly population with HTN. The sample size has 42 and 93% confidence, treatments for the two study outcomes.


CONCLUSIONS
The diabetic cohort in ALLHAT wil be able to provide valuable information about the treatment of hypertension in older diabetic patients at risk for incident CVD.
Barzilay
J I
JI
Division of Endocrinology, Kaiser Permanente of Georgia, Tucker 30084, USA. joshua.barzilay@kp.org
Jones
C L
CL
Davis
B R
BR
Basile
J N
JN
Goff
D C
DC
Ciocon
J O
JO
Sweeney
M E
ME
Randall
O S
OS
D000317:Adrenergic alpha-Antagonists / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D017311:Amlodipine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000806:Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000959:Antihypertensive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001794:Blood Pressure; D002121:Calcium Channel Blockers / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002791:Cholesterol, Dietary; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000401:mortality / Q000517:prevention & control*; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D017292:Doxazosin / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006937:Hypercholesterolemia / Q000150:complications / Q000178:diet therapy* / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006973:Hypertension / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy*; D017706:Lisinopril / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000401:mortality / Q000517:prevention & control*; D017035:Pravastatin / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D044469:Racial Groups; D012307:Risk Factors; D014481:United States
D000317:Adrenergic alpha-Antagonists; D000806:Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors; D000959:Antihypertensive Agents; D002121:Calcium Channel Blockers; D002791:Cholesterol, Dietary; D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors; D017311:Amlodipine; D017706:Lisinopril; D017035:Pravastatin; D017292:Doxazosin