Table 3.
Characteristics of antihypertensive initiators [n (%)] by concordance with guidelines
| Recommended monotherapy | Not recommended therapies | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monotherapy | Fixed‐dose combination | Multiple medicines | ||
| Age | ||||
| 18–49 years | 6819 (16.5) | 2126 (28.0) | 629 (22.5) | 434 (17.8) |
| 50–59 years | 5416 (13.1) | 962 (12.7) | 503 (18.0) | 315 (13.0) |
| 60–69 years | 11 292 (27.4) | 1714 (22.6) | 787 (28.2) | 610 (25.1) |
| 70–79 years | 12 003 (29.1) | 1836 (24.2) | 646 (23.2) | 674 (27.7) |
| 80+ years | 5694 (13.8) | 948 (12.5) | 226 (8.1) | 400 (16.4) |
| Sex | ||||
| Male | 18 180 (44.1) | 2983 (39.3) | 1295 (46.4) | 1243 (51.1) |
| Female | 23 044 (55.9) | 4603 (60.7) | 1496 (53.6) | 1190 (48.9) |
| Number of medicines dispensed in year prior | ||||
| Quartile 1 (1–2) | 10 491 (25.5) | 1909 (25.2) | 827 (29.6) | 687 (28.2) |
| Quartile 2 (3–4) | 9375 (22.7) | 1754 (23.1) | 635 (22.8) | 560 (23.0) |
| Quartile 3 (5–7) | 10 085 (24.5) | 1902 (25.1) | 666 (23.9) | 541 (22.2) |
| Quartile 4 (≥8) | 11 273 (27.4) | 2021 (26.6) | 663 (23.8) | 645 (26.5) |
| Medicines dispensed for treatment of: | ||||
| Angina | 1733 (4.2) | 3 (0.0) | 22 (0.8) | 155 (6.4) |
| Depression | 9378 (22.8) | 2063 (27.2) | 614 (22.0) | 510 (21.0) |
| Diabetes | 4556 (11.1) | 373 (4.9) | 228 (8.2) | 222 (9.1) |
| Gastro‐oesophageal reflux disease | 12 577 (30.5) | 2271 (29.9) | 759 (27.2) | 724 (29.8) |
| Gout | 1508 (3.7) | 212 (2.8) | 91 (3.3) | 80 (3.3) |
| Heart failure | 3091 (7.5) | 37 (0.5) | 138 (4.9) | 162 (6.7) |
| Hyperlipidaemia | 11 985 (29.1) | 1867 (24.6) | 700 (25.1) | 665 (27.3) |
| Obstructive airway disease | 9378 (22.8) | 2063 (27.2) | 614 (22.0) | 510 (21.0) |
| Initiated on lowest recommended dose | 32 938 (79.9) | 3479 (45.9) | 1289 (46.2) | 494 (20.3) |
| Initiating on a ‘potentially harmful’ comorbidity‐antihypertensive combination | 952 (2.3) | 2776 (36.6) | 235 (8.4) | 624 (25.7) |
| Year of initiation | ||||
| 2008/09 | 8488 (20.6) | 1393 (18.4) | 529 (19.0) | 562 (23.1) |
| 2009/10 | 7167 (17.4) | 1294 (17.1) | 455 (16.3) | 458 (18.8) |
| 2010/11 | 6802 (16.5) | 1299 (17.1) | 453 (16.2) | 380 (15.6) |
| 2011/12 | 6518 (16.5) | 1121 (14.8) | 437 (15.7) | 318 (13.1) |
| 2012/13 | 6239 (15.1) | 1289 (17.0) | 438 (15.7) | 323 (13.3) |
| 2013/14 | 6010 (14.6) | 1190 (15.7) | 479 (17.2) | 392 (16.1) |