| News - Hypertension Week of May 25, 2003/ Vol. 2 No. 21 |
| Study: Physician-Patient Teamwork Needed to Reach Blood Pressure Goal |
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When general practice physicians and patients work together and set a reduction goal, blood pressure control improves, according to a study reported at the 18th annual scientific meeting of the American Society of Hypertension in New York. Researchers reported on a study involving 910 patients whose hypertension was either previously untreated or unsatisfactorily controlled. Their physicians were given information on well-established guidelines for managing hypertension. Participants were followed for a maximum of five visits or fewer if they reached a target blood pressure goal of less than 140/90 mm Hg. Study author Dr. Ingrid Os, of the University of Oslo in Norway, reported that 32.7 percent of the uncontrolled patient group and 28.1 percent of the previously untreated group reached a blood pressure target of less than 140/90 mm Hg. Os added that the percentage of patients achieving either a systolic or diastolic target was 71.7 percent of the uncontrolled patient group and 70.5 percent of the previously untreated. The general practitioners found the total risk profile (concomitant disease and target organ damage) was similar in both groups. However, more patients in the unsatisfactorily controlled blood pressure group suffered from cerebrovascular events, coronary heart disease, peripheral arterial disease and diabetes. "We found blood pressure control was obtained faster in the younger patients and in patients who were previously untreated, which could be attributed to less complicated hypertension," Os said. "Much more must be done on the part of both physicians and patients if we are ever going to satisfactorily control hypertension."
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