Antihypertensive drugs in primary care in Barbados: used or abused?

ABSTRACT

An audit of clinic records of 1016 adult Barbadians who attended their public or private primary care practitioners during July 1994 was performed. Non-drug therapy for hypertension was rarely recorded; single drug therapy was the most common regimen employed for 'treating' hypertension. There was fairly liberal use of the most expensive drugs, such as the ACE inhibitors and calcium channel blockers, which may cost up to 200 times more than thiazide diuretics. The clinic records did not indicate why certain regimens were preferred. There was minimal screening for metabolic complications. Only 18 percent of hypertensive patients had blood pressures controlled at the < 140/90 mm Hg level, even though they were all prescribed antihypertensive medication. AU.