Hypertension Management in Brazil: Usual Practice in Primary Care—A Meta-Analysis
Table 2
Frequency of blood pressure lowering medication use, diagnostic tests, and medical appointments among hypertensive subjects.
Prevalence (95% CI)/mean (±SD)
Heterogeneity
Status quo
value
Blood pressure lowering medication (%)
In use of one BPLM
42.7 (28.6–58.1)
<0.01
99.0
In use of two BPLM
33.0 (23.7–43.9)
<0.01
92.4
Type of BPLM
Thiazide diuretics
Single-drug therapy or combined with another drug
41.1 (26.4–57.6)
<0.01
98.3
Single-drug therapy
18.2 (7.4–38.4)
<0.01
96.6
Combined with ACEI
14.9 (11.1–19.8)
<0.01
84.6
Combined with BB
9.4 (5.7–15.2)
<0.01
86.5
Combined with
5.0 (2.4–7.6)
NA
NA
Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEI)
Single-drug therapy or combined with another drug
41.1 (20.2–65.7)
<0.01
97.7
Single-drug therapy
16.2 (11.6–22.1)
<0.01
85.0
Combined with
3.4 (2.5–4.7)
0.07
62.1
Combined with
4.0 (2.1–5.9)
NA
NA
Beta-blockers (BB)
Single-drug therapy or combined with other BPLM
21.2 (17.3–25.8)
<0.01
84.3
Single-drug
10.0 (8.1–12.3)
0.17
46.2
Combined with
2.3 (0.5–4.1)
NA
NA
Calcium channel blockers (CCB)
Single-drug therapy or combined with other BPLM
10.0 (7.5–13.3)
<0.01
72.4
Single-drug
3.9 (1.6–6.2)
NA
NA
Angiotensin receptor blockers (ARB)
Single-drug therapy or combined with other
2.3 (1.4–3.6)
0.06
71.2
Diagnostic tests and procedures (%) among hypertensive subjects
Previous month testing
6.3 (3.9–8.8)
NA
NA
Any
9.7 (6.8–12.7)
NA
NA
Any urine
8.4 (5.6–11.2)
NA
NA
Any blood
12.6 (9.3–16.0)
NA
NA
Direct
35.0 (30.2–39.8)
NA
NA
Previous 12-month testing
Serum
19.5 (13.9–25.2)
NA
NA
Serum
31.0 (24.4–29.6)
NA
NA
Total serum
35.5 (28.7–42.3)
NA
NA
Serum LDL or HDL
25.0 (18.3–31.2)
NA
NA
Serum
34.0 (27.3–40.8)
NA
NA
Fasting plasma
36.5 (29.6–43.4)
NA
NA
Urine
25.0 (18.8–31.2)
NA
NA
Medical appointments (%) among hypertensive subjects
Annual mean of medical appointments
2.62 (2.37)
0.5
0
Mostly using Brazilian Health Care
51.2 (46.1–56.2)
NA
NA
Mostly using private
20.9 (16.8–25.1)
NA
NA
Mostly using health plan
13.0 (9.6–16.4)
NA
NA
Mostly using emergency
1.9 (0.5–3.2)
NA
NA
13.0 (9.6–16.4)
NA
NA
effect analysis. on one study. the diagnosis of hypertension; LDL: low-density lipoprotein; HDL: high-density lipoprotein; value and –: nonapplicable; that is, only one study provided data; NA: not applicable.
