From guidelines to current practices: Suboptimal hypertension management in France

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Public Health
• General Practice

Background:

• Hypertension prevalence exceeds 30% in France.
• Despite established guidelines, national blood pressure control rates lag behind high-income countries.
• Understanding primary care physician (PCP) prescribing behaviors is crucial for improving hypertension management.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe antihypertensive prescribing behaviors of French PCPs.
• To assess PCP compliance with French hypertension guidelines.
• To focus on treatment initiation, renewal/change, and triple therapy combinations.

Main Methods:

• Observational study utilizing IQVIA longitudinal patient database (LPD).
• Analysis of real-world data from French primary care electronic medical records (EMR).
• Examination of prescription patterns related to hypertension management.

Main Results:

• Average of 1.9 antihypertensive agents prescribed per patient; 39.3% monotherapy.
• Dual therapy initiated in 22.5% of new prescriptions.
• Only 6.3% of treatment renewals involved adding a new therapy; 35.7% of triple therapies followed guideline recommendations.

Conclusions:

• Evidence of therapeutic gaps in French hypertension management identified.
• Potential contributors include PCP therapeutic inertia and guideline knowledge gaps.
• Urgent corrective actions are needed from all stakeholders to enhance patient care.