Fleig SV, et al. - Researchers herein explored the consequence of a fixed-dose combination of perindopril/amlodipine in individuals with arterial hypertension. Substantial blood pressure reduction and improvement were demonstrated in medication adherence due to a fixed-dose combination of perindopril/amlodipine.

Methods

• A fixed combination of perindopril/amlodipine (3.5/2.5 or 7.0/5.0 mg) was given for 12 weeks for individuals who were previously untreated or required a change in medication.
• Experts recorded changes in office, home and ambulatory blood pressure (BP).
• An examination was performed of the adherence with the aid of the Hill-Bone medication adherence scale.

Results

• The enrollment consisted of 1,814 patients (mean age 60.0 ± 13.4 years) in 614 German practices, and data of 1,770 patients were assessed.
• During this research, 97.7% of patients received perindopril/amlodipine at a daily dose of 3.5 mg/2.5 mg at study entry, and 47.9% of patients remained on this dose during the study period.
• A decrease was found in the mean office BP from 163.7/95.4 to 133.6/80.3 mmHg (p < 0.0001) after treatment with perindopril/amlodipine, leading to a hypertension control rate of 69.1%.
• Findings disclosed comparable blood pressure control in previously untreated and treated patients (70.3 vs 68.1%), and in younger and older patients (70.6 < 65 vs 66.3% ≥ 65 years).
• The availability of ambulatory BP measurements was noted in a subgroup of patients (n = 167), along with a decrease in mean 24 h ambulatory BP from 150.6 ± 12.6/88.9 ± 8.8 to 132.4 ± 11.9/79.4 ± 8.5 mmHg (p < 0.0001).
• Additionally, a decrease was reported in the proportion of patients with severe hypertension European Society of Hypertension/European Society of Cardiology (ESH/ESC) grade II or III from 64.4 to 3.9%, and patients with pre-existing isolated systolic hypertension (n = 284) converted to normal BP in 67.6% of cases.
• Perfect adherence was found in nearly half of the patients (47.2%) during the study.
• As per the outcomes, a rise was revealed in the percentage of patients with perfect adherence from 20.6% prior to study to 43.5% at final visit (p < 0.0001) in previously treated patients.
• Adverse drug reactions were discovered in 4.9% of patients.