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[Sex differences in the pharmacological treatment of hypertension in primary care]
Elisa Dal Canto1,2, Sophie L Theunisse1, Michiel L Bots1
1UMC Utrecht, afd. huisartsgeneeskunde, Julius Centrum voor Gezondheidswetenschappen en Eerstelijns Geneeskunde, Utrecht.
Objective:
To investigate sex differences in the pharmacological treatment of hypertension in primary care.
Design:
Cross-sectional study among 14,384 patients with hypertension from the Julius General Practitioners' Network, without cardiovascular disease or diabetes, treated with antihypertensive medications.
Methods:
We compared men and women in the number and type of prescribed antihypertensives and their blood pressure.
Results:
Women (n=8596) and men (n=5788) were prescribed the same number of antihypertensive agents on average (1.8). Women received lower dosages, more often beta-blockers (35% vs. 26%, p<0.001) and diuretics (54% vs. 51%, p<0.001), but less often ACE inhibitors (35% vs. 46%, p<0.001) and calcium channel blockers (29% vs. 36%, p<0.001). Blood pressure control was more often achieved in women than in men (50% vs. 46%, p<0.001).
Conclusion:
Although current guidelines do not distinguish between sexes, differences exist in the type and dosage of antihypertensives prescribed, and in the rate of blood pressure control.
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