-Report on Experiments and Clinical Cases-

Changes in Blood-pressure Control among Patients with Hypertension from 2008 through 2011: Surveys of Actual Clinical Practice

Nobuo Hatori, Hiroyuki Sakai, Kazuyoshi Sato, Kazuhiko Mitani, Masayuki Miyajima, Shouhei Yuasa, Shingo Kuboshima, Keiichi Kajiwara and Masaaki Miyakawa

Kanagawa Physicians Association

We performed cross-sectional surveys to investigate changes in clinical practices regarding blood-pressure control in patients with hypertension from 2008 through 2011. Questionnaires regarding the care of patients with hypertension were mailed to members of the Kanagawa Physicians Association in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Data were obtained on 675 patients in 2008, 332 in 2009, and 1,076 in 2011. The mean systolic blood pressure (BP) was significantly lower in 2011 than in 2008 (132.2±11.9 mm Hg versus 134.6±10.6 mm Hg). The office-measured target BP, according to the 2009 guidelines of the Japanese Society of Hypertension for the management of patients with hypertension, was achieved in 53.9% of patients in 2008, 55.1% in 2009, and 57.1% in 2011. In nonelderly patients (younger than 65 years), the achievement rate was significantly greater in 2011 (41.2%) than in 2008 (23.6%). This analysis showed that the factor most significantly associated with a decrease in office-measured BP was treatment with a larger number and higher doses of antihypertensive agents. To investigate changes in clinical practices according to the guidelines, further follow-up surveys are necessary.

J Nippon Med Sch 2014; 81: 258-263

Keywords
blood pressure, physicians, guidelines

Correspondence to
Nobuo Hatori, MD, Kobayashi Hospital, 1-14-18 Sakaecho, Odawara, Kanagawa 250-0011, Japan
hatnobu@pa2.so-net.ne.jp

Received, January 10, 2014
Accepted, February 20, 2014