Population aspects of arterial hypertension therapy. Focus on fixed combinations

High blood pressure (BP) remains the leading risk factor for coronary heart disease, stroke, other cardiovascular diseases, chronic kidney disease, and dementia.  

Objective. To estimate the frequency of prescribing antihypertensive drugs (AHD) with the allocation of the proportion of fixed combinations (FC) among people aged 25–64 years examined in 16 regions of the Russian Federation as part of the ESSE-RF and ESSE-RF2 studies.

Design and methods. The analysis included the results of a survey of representative samples of the population of the Russian Federation in the ESSE-RF studies (2012–2014, men: N = 8376 and women N = 13546 people) and ESSE-RF2 (2017, men: N = 3000 and women N = 3714 people). Each participant signed an informed consent. Arterial hypertension (AH) was defined as systolic BP ≥ 140 mm Hg and/or diastolic BP ≥ 90 mm Hg and/or if the examined reported taking AHD. Under the lack of control of AH, we understood the proportion of patients (%) with BP levels ≥ 140/90 mm Hg of the total number of patients with AH. Information about the AHD taken was recorded from the words of the patient (trade name of the drug) followed by coding according to the International Nonproprietary Names of Drugs.

Results. In the Russian population, there was a decrease in the proportion of uncontrolled BP from 78,5 % (95 % confidence interval (CI) 77,7–79,3) in ESSE-RF to 73,0% (95 % CI 71,3–74,6) in ESSE-RF2. FC intake was detected in 15,6 % (95 % CI 13,8–18,0) of patients treated in the ESSE-RF study, while the proportion of such patients in the ESSE-RF2 decreased to 10,9% (95% CI 9,2–12,8), p < 0,001. The most common FC was the combination of an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEI) and a diuretic (ESSE-RF: 49,1 % and ESSE-RF2: 45,9 %). In second place in ESSE-RF is a diuretic + angiotensin receptor blockers (25,8 %), in ESSE-RF2 — calcium channel blockers (CCB) + ACEI (22,4%). A more modern combination, namely: the combination of ACEI and CCB, was noted only in 8,7% in ESSE-RF, while in ESSE-RF2 the proportion of this FC increased by 2,5 times.

Conclusions. In the population of the Russian Federation, only 10 %-15 % of patients with AH  receive FC AHD. An increase in FC intake may contribute to an increase in adherence to therapy, which is extremely important for the Russian population with poor BP control.

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