Table 1.
Patient numbers and characteristics before documented start of therapy (baseline)
| Starting antihypertensive medication after 12/31/2008 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Diuretics | Beta blockers | RAS blockers | CCB | |
| Numbers | ||||
| n | 13 808 | 20 538 | 35 783 | 9159 |
| Percent (%) | 17.4 | 25.9 | 45.1 | 11.6 |
| Documentation density | ||||
| Avg facts per patient | 1422 | 1197 | 931 | 1129 |
| Diagnosis facts/patient | 279 | 266 | 203 | 231 |
| Demography | ||||
| Mean age | 54 | 56 | 53 | 58 |
| ± SD | 15 | 16 | 15 | 16 |
| Female (%) | 74 | 55 | 46 | 59 |
| White (%) | 68 | 82 | 78 | 62 |
| Black (%) | 24 | 8 | 9 | 24 |
| Unknown or other race (%) | 8 | 10 | 13 | 14 |
| Comorbidities | ||||
| Ischemic heart disease (I20‐I25) (%) | 2 | 8 | 2 | 3 |
| Diabetes (E08‐E13) (%) | 4 | 5 | 16 | 4 |
| Atrial fibrillation (I48) (%) | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 |
| Laboratory values | ||||
| Mean C‐reactive protein, mg/L | 9.5 | 7.7 | 8.9 | 6.9 |
| ±SD | 29.5 | 25.1 | 32.0 | 25.7 |
| Mean systolic BP, mm Hg | 133.6 | 131.7 | 134.7 | 136.9 |
| ±SD | 17.9 | 18.2 | 17.3 | 18.8 |
| Mean diastolic BP, mm Hg | 80.2 | 78.2 | 81.0 | 80.9 |
| ±SD | 12.1 | 11.8 | 11.6 | 12.2 |
| Mean heart rate/min | 80.3 | 77.6 | 78.8 | 79.1 |
| ±SD | 15.6 | 16.0 | 13.7 | 14.9 |
| LDL cholesterol, mg/dL | 114.7 | 108.1 | 109.2 | 110.3 |
| ±SD | 37.4 | 38.8 | 38.7 | 31.7 |
Values before propensity matching. Therefore, differences across groups are partially caused by prescribing behavior following treatment guidelines.