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Hypertension in Ireland: public awareness and doctors choice of therapy

N L Zaharan1, A Mahmud, K Bennett

  • 1Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Trinity Centre for Health Sciences, St James's Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.

Irish Journal of Medical Science
|October 20, 2009
PubMed

Insights

Many Irish adults have undiagnosed high blood pressure (hypertension), with low public awareness of normal blood pressure levels. General practitioners

Area of Science:

  • Cardiovascular Medicine
  • Public Health
  • Epidemiology

Background:

  • Hypertension is a prevalent medical condition in Ireland.
  • Significant gaps exist in public awareness regarding blood pressure (BP) levels and targets.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To assess the population's awareness of their blood pressure.
  • To understand general practitioners' (GPs) perspectives on hypertension diagnosis and management.

Main Methods:

  • A population sub-sample (n=1,071) underwent BP measurement and awareness assessment.
  • A postal survey of GPs (n=1,037) gathered opinions on hypertension management.

Main Results:

  • Nearly half of the surveyed population had elevated BP, with many unaware of their condition or normal BP ranges.
  • GPs' practices aligned more with European than British guidelines, with 90% requiring ambulatory BP monitoring for diagnosis.
  • Prescribing patterns varied by age, favoring ACE inhibitors/ARBs for younger patients and diuretics/ACE inhibitors for older patients.

Conclusions:

  • Enhanced public education on blood pressure is necessary.
  • The development of nationally agreed hypertension guidelines is recommended.
Abstract

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