Guideline Adherence and Prescribing Trend of Antihypertensive Medications among Tertiary Hospital Physicians in Lahore, Pakistan

Hypertension is a chronic medical condition while its management depends on rationale use of anti-hypertensive drugs. The objective of current study was to evaluate doctor's adherence to Joint National Committee guidelines. Prescriptions written for 80 hypertensive patients were collected. On second visit, patient's blood pressure (BP) was related to its prescription. The mean age and weight of patients was 54.03 +/- 10.33 years and 67.98 +/- 11.16 kg respectively. Majority patients 36 (45%) had stage 2 hypertension. Of the total, 44 (55%) were males, 64 (80%) were married and 38 (47.5%) were employed. Diabetes and ischemic heart disease (DID) were the most common co-morbidities. Combination therapy was used in 52 (65%) patients while 70 (87.5%) patients achieved controlled blood pressure on their second visit. Angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) or angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) remained preferred in diabetic patients while beta blockers (BBs) were choice of drug in IHD patients.