Prescription patterns of hypertension--National Health Insurance in Taiwan.
BACKGROUND
Hypertension is a universal disease. Treatment patterns of hypertension provide valuable information for clinicians. Therefore, we present the patterns of antihypertensive medications in Taiwan by their pharmacological classifications, breaking down by patients' ages and genders.


METHODS
A descriptive and cross-sectional analysis was performed. Claims from the National Health Insurance of Taiwan were used and included all ambulatory cares of 21 million people from July 1, 1997 to June 30, 1998. A total of 9,717,960 visits with 16,595,030 matched records of antihypertensive medications were obtained. Hypertensive medications were divided into 5 main categories; monotherapy and multiple therapy were defined and discussed separately. Frequency and proportion of utilization of antihypertensive medication were charted and figured.


RESULTS
The most frequently prescribed antihypertensive medications were: calcium antagonists: 5,332,527 records (54.9% of enrolled visits); beta-blockers: 4,230,843 records (43.5%); angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs): 3,057,009 records (31.5%); diuretics: 2,255,838 records (23.2%); and "others": 1,647,100 records (16.9%). Regardless of gender, the top 2 prescription patterns were calcium antagonists and beta-blockers for monotherapy, beta-blockers + calcium antagonists and ACEIs + calcium antagonists for multiple therapy.


CONCLUSIONS
Although Taiwan is a country with National Health Insurance, patterns of pharmacologic treatment of hypertension in Taiwan are close to those in the US, not to those of countries in Europe. Also, these treatments were tailored to the conditions of the patients.
Chou
Chih-Chieh
CC
Department of Family Medicine, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center, 325, Sec. 2, Cheng-Gong Road, Taipei 114, Taiwan, ROC. shenchch@ndmctsgh.edu.tw
Lee
Meei-Shynan
MS
Ke
Ching-Hsing
CH
Chung
Mieng-Hsian
MH
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000806:Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002121:Calcium Channel Blockers / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004363:Drug Utilization; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000188:drug therapy*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009313:National Health Programs; D012737:Sex Factors; D013624:Taiwan
D000806:Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors; D002121:Calcium Channel Blockers