Prevalence and Treatment of Hypertension Complicated by Comorbid Conditions.
Although the presence of a comorbid condition should be an important factor in etermining the choice of an antihypertensive agent, the prevalence of conditions complicating hypertension is unknown in most patient populations. It is also unknown whether the presence of comorbid conditions influences antihypertensive therapy. To address these questions, we determined the prevalence of comorbid conditions and antihypertensive prescribing patterns for 7526 patients receiving antihypertensive medication at four Department of Veterans Affairs clinics. Of these patients, 97% were male and 86% were over 50 years of age. In these hypertensives, 2507 had coronary artery disease (CAD), 2426 had diabetes mellitus (DM), 1553 had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or asthma, and 970 had congestive heart failure (CHF). The presence of comorbid conditions did not have a major impact on the choice of antihypertensive agents, with most hypertensives receiving calcium antagonists or ACE inhibitors. The use of Ã -blockers, for example, was not greatly influenced by the presence of CAD. (c)1999 by Le JacqCommunications, Inc.
Meier
Joy L.
JL
Pharmacy Service Department of Veterans Affairs, Northern California Health Care System, Martinez, CA and School of Pharmacy, University of the Pacific, Stockton, CA.
Lopez
Julio
J
Siegel
David
D