Effect of irbesartan monotherapy compared with ACE inhibitors and calcium-channel blockers on patient compliance in essential hypertension patients: a multicenter, open-labeled, three-armed study.
OBJECTIVE
This multicenter, three-armed, open-labeled study investigated patient compliance of patients receiving irbesartan, angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors or calcium-channel blockers (CCB) for essential hypertension for a 6-month period. Patients were either newly diagnosed or switched from existing antihypertensive medication due to lack of efficacy or side-effects.


METHODS
Patients were started monotherapy with irbesartan (n=377), ACE inhibitors (n=298) or CCB (n=308) and were reevaluated on 1st, 3rd, and 6th months of the treatment. The primary endpoint was patient compliance, assessed by proportion of patients who had taken their study medication every day. Efficacy was recorded as mean reductions in blood pressure and the proportion of patients whose blood pressure normalized. Tolerability was assessed by reported adverse events.


RESULTS
Significantly more patients receiving irbesartan had complied with study medication after 3 and 6 months of treatment than ACE inhibitors or CCB. Significantly fewer patients receiving irbesartan needed to change their antihypertensive medication. All three study treatments exhibited similar efficacy profiles, but irbesartan had significantly less adverse events.


CONCLUSIONS
This study demonstrated that patient compliance to irbesartan was significantly superior to other study treatments. Irbesartan is therefore a suitable first-line therapy for essential hypertension in everyday clinical practice.
Koylan
Nevres
N
Istanbul University Istanbul Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul, Turkey. nevres@koylan.com
Acarturk
Esmeray
E
Canberk
Aykan
A
Caglar
Nail
N
Caglar
Sali
S
Erdine
Serap
S
Guneri
Sema
S
Ilerigelen
Baris
B
Kabakci
Giray
G
Onder
Remzi
R
Sagkan
Olcay
O
Buyukozturk
Kemalettin
K
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000806:Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000959:Antihypertensive Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001713:Biphenyl Compounds / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001794:Blood Pressure; D002121:Calcium Channel Blockers / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015220:Calcium Channels / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000188:drug therapy*; D000077405:Irbesartan; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010349:Patient Compliance; D013777:Tetrazoles / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013997:Time Factors
D000806:Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors; D000959:Antihypertensive Agents; D001713:Biphenyl Compounds; D002121:Calcium Channel Blockers; D015220:Calcium Channels; D013777:Tetrazoles; D000077405:Irbesartan