The aim – to study demographic and clinical characteristics of the patients with newly diagnosed arterial hypertension (AH); еvaluate patients’ satisfaction with prescribed treatment and changes in well-being and working capacity of patients. The end points of the study were to evaluate the effectiveness of antihypertensive therapy, which was first prescribed by the physician.
Materials and methods. In the open multicentre epidemiological study START 1485 patients were included with newly diagnosed and/or untreated AH from 11 regional centers of Ukraine and Kyiv. During the initial visit, the researchers assessed demographic data, anamnesis and physical examination data and later physician prescribed initial antihypertensive therapy at his/her own discretion. In the majority of cases, the doctors chose an original fixed combination of perindopril/amlodipine. Its efficacy and tolerability was assessed on the 7th and 30th treatment days. Besides, during the final visit (on treatment day 30) the patients answered the questionnaire, so that their opinion about the treatment results could be reviewed.
Results. Among the patients with newly established AH diagnosis or never treated AH, 54.5 % were younger than 55 years of age; 57.8 % were females, 42.2 % were males. In 33.1 % patients AH of the 1st degree was diagnosed, in 54.6 % – AH of the 2nd degree and in 12.2 % – AH of 3rd degree was diagnosed. 77.4 % of patients had hypercholesterolemia, 24.9 % had obesity, 21.9 % were active smokers, and 8.7 % had a history of diabetes mellitus. Administration of the combination perindopril/amlodipine after 7 days decreased systolic blood pressure by 21 mm Hg, diastolic blood pressure – by 10 mm Hg; after 30 days, respectively – by 32 and 15 mm Hg (Р<0.001 for all the parameters). Blood pressure was normalized in 35.3 % patients after a week, and in 76.5 % patients – after a month of combination treatment. Conclusions. The patients profile with newly diagnosed or previously untreated AH among the urban population of Ukraine was presented in majority of cases by females and persons under 55 years of age with predominantly mild or moderate AH. AH is accompanied most frequently by hypercholesterolemia (77.4 %); each fourth patient is obese; each fifth patient is an active smoker. Usage of fixed combination of perindopril/amlodipine as initial therapy in these patients made possible to achieve target blood pressure in a week in 35.3 % of the patients, in 30 days – in 76.5 % patients, with good treatment tolerability.
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