Among four classes of blood pressure medication, angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) had the highest medication persistence, meaning patients taking the drugs were most likely to stay on them. This could translate to lower healthcare costs, according to a Swedish study published in a December issue of eClinicalMedicine.
“If we can get more patients to continue taking their blood pressure medication and refrain from discontinuing their treatment, this will clearly improve their cardiovascular health and they will live longer,” says Karl Laurell, a researcher at Uppsala University in Uppsala, Sweden. “At the same time, healthcare costs decrease if patients are prescribed the medicine they are most likely to persist with from the start. For patients and doctors, these findings mean that ARB drugs should be the preferred choice when treatment for high blood pressure is initiated, unless there are obvious reasons to choose something else.”
Angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) stop the action of angiotensin, a chemical in the body that narrows the blood vessels, and relaxes veins and arteries to lower blood pressure.
The study examined data from 341,182 patients 40 years of age and older who received an antihypertensive drug for the first time and as a single pill between Jan. 1, 2011 and Dec. 31, 2018. Researchers compared the four classes of drugs that are recommended most strongly for treating high blood pressure: angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB), angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor (ACEi), calcium channel blocker (CCB) and thiazide/thiazide-like diuretic (TD). Patients who remained on the same medication for the duration of the study were classified as “class persistent” while those who switched medications were classified as “therapy persistent.”
Results showed that the majority of patients started treatment with an ACEi (40.1%) followed by ARB (26.9%), CCB (26.6%), TD (3.8%) and single-pill combination (SPC) (2.7%). 80% of those who started with ARB were still showing good adherence to the original medicine compared to 65% of those who started with CCB, the second-best drug class.