Patients with treatment resistant hypertension do take their drugs

Poor compliance with treatment is considered a major factor in treatment resistant hypertension, but when Nuesch et al (p 142) examined 103 consecutive hypertensive patients they found no difference in compliance between treatment resistant and treatment responsive patients. Forty (82%) of the 49 treatment resistant patients and 46 (85%) of the 54 responsive patients were compliant (took 80% of prescribed doses). The patients were taking stable treatment regimens of at least two antihypertensive drugs. The authors conclude that these results challenge the widely held belief that patient related factors are usually the main reason for treatment resistance in hypertension.

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Relevant Article

Relation between insufficient response to antihypertensive treatment and poor compliance with treatment: a prospective case-control study

Reto Nuesch, Kerstin Schroeder, Thomas Dieterle, Benedict Martina, and Edouard Battegay
BMJ 2001 323: 142-146. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]