Anti-hypertensive prescription pattern among general medical practitioners in Kano, Northern Nigeria

Background: General medical practitioners are responsible for providing care for most hypertensive patients in developing countries, including Nigeria.Concerns have been raised about the pattern of anti-hypertensive medications prescription in some countries.Most previous studies that have assessedphysicians' anti-hypertensive prescription patterns were carried out in tertiary care institutions.The aim of this study was to assess the anti-hypertensive prescription pattern of non-specialist general medical practitioners in Kano State, North-western Nigeria.Methods: This was a cross -sectional survey carried out among non -specialist general practitioners practicing within Kano State, Nigeria.A total of 138 doctors completed questionnaires about their demographics, duration and location of practice, and anti-hypertensive prescription patterns.Continuous variables were presented as mean ± standard deviation.Qualitative variables were expressed as proportions and percentages.Results: One hundred and fourteen (82.6%) doctors directly care for hypertensive patients routinely, with only 31 (22.5%)attending to less than 20 patients per month.Majority (47%) considered thiazide diuretics their first choice antihypertensive.Angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) were the commonest used drugs as single agent (55.7%) or in combination with other classes.The frequently used combinations were ACEIs/ thiazides (43.5%),ACEI/ Calcium channel blockers (CCBs) (24.6%) and CCBs/ thiazides (8.7%).The most frequently considered factors when prescribing antihypertensive medications were cost of the medications (84.7%), side effect profile of the medications (68.1%), presence of compelling indications and contraindications (57.2%), blood pressure at the time of presentation (56.2%) and the dosage frequency.Conclusion: The anti-hypertensive prescription pattern for the majority of the non-specialist general medical practitioners in Kano is in accordance with the current hypertension treatment guidelines.