title: Patients' decisions about whether or not to take antihypertensive drugs: qualitative study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe the ways in which patients taking antihypertensive drugs balance reservations against reasons for taking them.
  
  
  METHODS
  Qualitative study using detailed interviews.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two urban general practices in the United Kingdom.
  
  
  METHODS
  Maximum variety sample of 38 interviewees receiving repeat prescriptions for antihypertensives.
  
  
  METHODS
  Interviewees' reservations about drugs and reasons for taking antihypertensives.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Patients had reservations about drugs generally and reservations about antihypertensives specifically. Reasons for taking antihypertensive drugs comprised positive experiences with doctors, perceived benefits of medication, and pragmatic considerations. Patients weighed their reservations against reasons for taking antihypertensives in a way that made sense for them personally. Some individual patients weighed different reservations against different reasons for taking antihypertensives.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Patients' ideas may derive from considerations unrelated to the drugs' pharmacology. Doctors who want their patients to make well informed choices about antihypertensives and to reach concordant decisions about prescribing should explore how individuals strike this balance, to personalise discussion of drug use.
authors.affiliation: General Practice and Primary Care Research Unit, Institute of Public Health, Cambridge CB2 2SR. jab62@medschl.cam.ac.uk
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Benson
authors.forename: Nicky
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Britten
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000959:Antihypertensive Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D003657:Decision Making; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014504:Urban Health
chemical_list: D000959:Antihypertensive Agents