Blood Pressure-Elevating and Antihypertensive Medication Prescription Trends

Many medications can have blood pressure (BP)-elevating effects, which might negatively impact BP control among people with hypertension. This study examines trends in prescription fills for BP-elevating and antihypertensive medications, individually and concurrently, among US individuals.

Quarterly trends of individual and concurrent fills for BP-elevating and antihypertensive medications were reported using the nationwide sample from IQVIA's Total Patient Tracker database, covering 94% of all retail prescription fills in the United States. We identified 1387 products containing BP-elevating medications and 240 products containing antihypertensive medications. Percentage change from Q1/2017 and average quarterly percent change from the joinpoint regression were used to present trends overall and by sex and age group (0-17, 18-44, 45-64, 65-74, and ≥75 years).

From 2017 to 2023, fills remained stable for BP-elevating medications alone and increased for antihypertensive medications alone (9.5% increase; from 10.1% to 11.0%; P<0.001). Concurrent fills for antihypertensive and BP-elevating medications increased by 15.9% (from 5.4% to 6.2%; P<0.001). Fills for BP-elevating medications were higher among adult women compared with men; among women aged 18 to 44 years, this was primarily due to the use of combined oral contraceptives. In Q4/2023, fills for BP-elevating medications were most common among those aged 65 to 74 years (women=30.7%; men=20.4%).

These results provide the first nationwide trends in concurrent prescription fills for BP-elevating and antihypertensive medications, indicating an increasing trend. Our findings might inform clinician decision-making regarding medication selection for patients with hypertension.