P-352: Control of hypertension at primary care offices in Hungary and patient characteristics associated with failure to achieve target blood pressure

• Published in: American journal of hypertension 2002-04, Vol.15 (S3), p.158A-158A
• Main Authors: Kiss, I., Kerkovits, L., Farsang, Cs, Tisler, A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Control Rate; Hypertension Control; Primary Care
• ISSN: 0895-7061; 1941-7225; 1879-1905
• DOI: 10.1016/S0895-7061(02)02703-6

Objective: (1) To determine hypertension control rate in treated hypertensive patients seen in primary care offices in Hungary, and (2) to identify patients characteristics that are associated with failure to achieve blood pressure (BP) control. Design and Methods: Cross sectional data on 11063 consecutive hypertensive patient visits at 130 primary care offices. Control rate was determined by comparing the BP value obtained at that visit to the national guidelines. Patient characteristics (demographics, co-morbidity, target organ damage) were used in multivariate logistic regression to identify significant predictors of failure to achieve systolic and diastolic BP control. Results: Blood pressure was uncontrolled according to national guidelines in 55% of the cases. Failure to achieve goal BP was more frequent for systolic BP (53%) and less frequent for diastolic BP (29%). The three most important patient characteristics that significantly and independently decreased the odds of achieving systolic BP goal were renal disease (OR 0.26 [0.22-0.31] ), smoking (OR 0.64 [0.58-0.70] ), and old age (OR 0.70 [0.64-0.76]). The three most important patient characteristics that significantly and independently decreased the odds of achieving diastolic BP goal were renal disease (OR 0.23 [0.20-0.27]), smoking (OR 0.53 [0.48-0.58]), and obesity (OR 0.68 [0.62-0.74]). Conclusions: Similar to other countries, control rate of hypertension in primary care offices in Hungary is disappointingly low. Most important patient characteristics associated with failure to achieve goal BP are renal disease, smoking, and old age for systolic, and renal disease, smoking, and obesity for diastolic BP. Whether failure to achieve target blood pressure in these situations is due to the physicians being less aggressive in their therapy or due to more resistant hypertension associated with these conditions needs further study.