Drug therapy of arterial hypertension: assessment of the senior students’ basic knowledge. Final results of the PHYSTARH project

Introduction . Arterial hypertension (AH) is the main correctable cause of the development of cardiovascular diseases, leading to dysfunction of many organs, including the heart, blood vessels and kidneys. Lack of adequate control of systolic and/or diastolic blood pressure can lead to life-threatening conditions and death. The aim of study is to analyze the senior medical students’ knowledge from different regions of Russia in the basic issues of hypertension therapy. Materials and methods . The article presents the results of the first stage of the PHYSTARH multicenter study (the full name of the project is Physicians’ and undergraduates’ knowledge in arterial hypertension treatment): an anonymous survey among 285 senior medical students from 4 cities of Russia. In this article, the authors analyzed the questions of the second part of the questionnaire. Results . The average level of correct answers on the questionnaire was 57.7%. The minimum level of correct answers was obtained in questions about the effectiveness of combined therapy, as well as the choice of absolute contraindications to the use of antihypertensive drugs. The maximum level of correct answers was registered in the question about determining the drug to its pharmacological group. Conclusion . The obtained results testify to the insufficiently level of students’ knowledge in the basic issues of arterial hypertension therapy.