Many stroke patients aren’t treated for hypertension

Although there is evidence that Stroke patients with high or even normal blood pressure can benefit from drug therapy to lower their blood pressure (antihypertensive therapy) at hospital discharge, a large number of patients do not receive these drugs, new research suggests.

The findings also reveal great variability among hospitals in antihypertensive prescription rates for Stroke patients, according to the report published in the medical journal Stroke.

"There should be a concerted effort, involving patients and their doctors, to make sure that patients do not leave the hospital without being on at least one blood pressure agent to reduce their risk for secondary Stroke," lead author Dr. Bruce Ovbiagele, from the University of California at Los Angeles, said in a statement.

The study involved an analysis of data from 764 consecutive patients who were logged in the California Acute Stroke Prototype Registry between 2002 and 2004. The subjects had been treated at 1 of 11 California hospitals for a Stroke or a transient ischemic attack - a mild stroke that leaves the patient without disability.

About 30 percent of subjects were discharged without receiving a prescription for at least one antihypertensive drug. The antihypertensive prescription rates ranged from 55 percent to 100 percent among the hospitals studied.

High Blood Pressure, diabetes, and older age all increased the odds that an antihypertensive agent would be prescribed at discharge, the authors note.

The short-term risk of having another stroke is high. “That makes it even more important to be sure that patients are put on proven therapies for preventing a recurrent event,” Ovbiagele added.

SOURCE: Stroke 2005.

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