Doctors, nurses, pharmacists and patients--the Rational Evaluation and Choice in Hypertension (REACH) survey of hypertension care delivery.

TL;DRAbstract

Despite ongoing efforts by the medical profession, many hypertensive patients either refuse treatment or have blood pressures that are not adequately controlled. A key reason is likely to be the side effects of many antihypertensive drugs. We have investigated further reasons for stopping or altering antihypertensive treatment, and the patterns of prescribing in Britain by mounting a series of surveys amongst family doctors, practice nurses and their patients with hypertension. A total of 178 GPs and 158 practice nurses provided completed replies suitable for analysis. In addition, 948 patients were surveyed via their GP and 1167 were surveyed via their local pharmacist (600 unprompted, 567 prompted). Thirty-two percent of GPs stated that hypertensive patients generally consulted because they were experiencing drug side effects and 42% of all switches of drug therapy occurred because patients experienced side effects. The GPs perceived that 18% of their hypertensive patients did not co

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