Prescribing in hypertension

The last research roundup provided you with an overview of articles looking at prescribing in sexual and reproductive health (Robertson, 2022). This month, we will be reviewing prescribing practices in hypertension. The condition is commonly prescribed for in primary and secondary care in the UK, with a wide range of prescribers who manage it as part of their scope of practice. According to the UK Government and Public Health England (PHE, 2017) guidance, the condition affects more than one in four adults in England. Prevention and early detection leading to prompt treatment can help reduce premature deaths from the condition. As a prescriber, it is important to be aware of factors influencing hypertension and its modifiable and non-modifiable variants. It is also important to look at comorbidities when prescribing. The following articles cover three areas of prescribing in hypertension.

This retrospective cohort analysis published in the Journal of Pharmacy Technology in 2022 aimed to describe prescribing patterns of antihypertensive medications in patients with incident stage 2 hypertension (Pugh et al, 2020). The researchers also wanted to determine any association between blood pressure control and initial prescriptions of multi-drug regimes. Stage 2 hypertension is defined as a presenting systolic blood pressure of >160 mmHg and/or a diastolic blood pressure of >100 mmHg. Guidelines suggest that appropriate treatment is crucial in preventing secondary events that contribute to morbidity and mortality. These guidelines suggest dual pharmacological therapy is necessary. The researchers aimed to examine adherence to these guidelines to inform the evidence base.