1997 Volume 34 Issue 10 Pages 809-817
In order to examine the current status of antihypertensive drug therapy for elderly hypertensive patients, and the effect of clinical characteristics and drugs on their prognosis, 1669 hypertensive patients in the Chugoku and Shikoku districts, aged between 65 and 84 years, were enrolled and followed for 3 years. Of the 1669 patients enrolled, 1459 were selected for evaluation and 1127 patients were followed. Group A comprised 955 patients who had not suffered from any accident, group B comprised 139 patients who had suffered from a cerebral, cardiac, renal or other non-fatal accident, and group C comprised 33 patients who died. The mortality rate was 10.7/1000 patient·years and the morbidity rate was 55.6/1000 patient·years. The number of patients who received monotherapy was 736 (calcium channel blockers: #436, beta blockers: #100, angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors: #80, diuretics: #64, α blockers: #16; others: #13). In group C, there were more male, and the patients were older and showed a higher level of serum cretinine concentration at enrollment compared with other groups. The use of diuretics and beta blockers tended to be low in this group. Among the three groups, however, there was no difference in blood pressure, heart rate or the use of each drug at enrollment. In summary, it is suggested that the different antihypertensive drug therapies die not influence the prognosis of elderly hypertensive patients.
