Table I.

Which circumstances are reasons to postpone or abstain from pharmacological treatment of hypertension?

The patient should first within six months try to change lifestyle factors, %	85 (78–93)
The patient is not motivated to be on daily pharmacological treatment, %	48 (37–58)
Increased blood pressure but all other risk factors within acceptable levels, %	47 (36–57)
Pharmacological treatment could lower motivation for lifestyle changes, %	38 (27–48)
The benefit for the patient is not obvious, %	32 (22–42)
The patient's age is questionable regarding pharmacological treatment, %	36 (26–47)
(a) The patient is too old to start treatment, %	32 (22–42)
(b) The patient is too young to start lifelong treatment, %	9 (3–16)
The benefit in terms of risk reduction due to pharmacological treatment is less than the negative impact on quality of life, %	30 (20–39)
Too great risks for side effects, %	22 (13–31)
No additional benefit from adding more pharmacological treatment to an already multiple-treated patient, %	15 (7–23)

Notes: Number of GP responders: n = 88. Each GP had the possibility to agree or disagree with more than one of the above listed alternatives. Presented as percentages (95% CI).