engleski

Antihypertensive drugs: primary care physicians' questionnaire survey in Croatia

The aim of our study was to develop the methodology and to prepare a questionnaire survey which could be used in different aspects of hypertension investigation. The purpose of this work is to present the results about the antihypertensive drug prescribing preferences and knowledge among Croatian primary care physicians. These preliminary findings are derived from the sample of 89 physicians. We used disproportionate, stratified (for country and size of the town) random sampling from the population of primary care physicians. The analysis was made according to the general characteristics of the physicians which were included in the survey, their preference in choosing the antihypertensive drug therapy and their opinion of specific drug group efficacy, adverse effects, cost-benefit, reducing myocardial infarction, etc. In our study group 73% of physicians were females with good professional experience (98% had more than 6 years in practice). The most prominent influential factors in selecting antihypertensive drugs were algorithms by professional organizations (83%), personal experience (76%), and specialist recommendations (53%). Efficacy and good tolerability were the most important in choosing the drug among 11 different characteristics while a good cost-benefit ratio and lower drug price were on the bottom of the list. ACE inhibitors were rated on the top in all categories except lower drug price. Primary care physicians in Croatia chose antihypertensive therapy primarily according to efficacy and tolerability while pharmacoeconomic factors did not have impact in choosing the drug. The drugs from the ACE inhibitors group, as ideal drugs for hypertensive patients' treatment, met most of the criteria according to the answers in our group of physicians.

questionnaire survey; drug hypertension investigation; Croatia

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