Hypertension; Strategic Need to Control Risk Factors and Drug Rationalization, a Cross Sectional Descriptive Study

Objectives: The study aim was to analyze the awareness of hypertension, lifestyle changes, treatment compliance and drug utilization of antihypertensive drugs amongHTN patients. Study Design: The prospective study. Setting: Cardiology Section of a TertiaryCare Private Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan. Period: Six months. Methods: Approximately 243HTN patients were enrolled. Patient’s history, demographic descriptions and antihypertensivetreatment were recorded through medical profiles. The descriptive statistical data was analyzedwith Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS-20). Results: Out of 243 patients, majoritywere male (56.8%) with mean age of 59 years. Smoking and physical inactivity (39.5% and28.8%) were found the two leading environmental risk factors associated to hypertension.Majority of patients were still untreated (53.9%) and only (19.8%) patients treated appropriately.The reasons obtained behind included poor compliance (48.1%) against antihypertensivemedicines, less awareness of HTN (23.9%) than unawareness (76.1%) and lack of clinical visitsin relation to financial problems (25.1%, 26.7%). Antihypertensive drugs utilized were β-blockers(28%), ACE inhibitors (25.1%), CCBs (20.6%) followed by ARBs (19.8%) and diuretics (6.6%).Conclusion: Hypertension can be overcome by advancement of knowledge, health educationalprograms, promoting awareness of early recognition and treatment protocol.