How do Compliance, Convenience, and Tolerability Affect Blood Pressure Goal Rates?

Abstract

Uncontrolled hypertension imposes a substantial global health burden, and poor patient compliance with prescribed antihypertensive medication makes a major contribution to the development of suboptimal blood pressure (BP) control. The asymptomatic nature of hypertension, side effects of medication, treatment complexity, and high pill burdens all have a negative impact on patient compliance. It is important to address the issue of poor patient compliance as studies have shown that good compliance is associated with improvement of BP control and positive health outcomes. As the majority of hypertensive patients require treatment with two or more agents to achieve goal BP, treatment guidelines have acknowledged the value of simplifying treatment through the use of fixed-dose combination (FDC) therapy. Triple FDC therapy comprising an angiotensin II type 1 receptor antagonist (angiotensin receptor blocker), calcium channel blocker, and thiazide diuretic is a novel treatment strategy for the improvement of BP control in hard-to-treat patients.