Patients stay with irbesartan more than other antihypertensives

According to the results of Irbesartan Compliance Evaluation (ICE), thefirst multinational database analysis to evaluate persistence between various classes of antihypertensive, a doctor's choice of therapy can have significant impact on how well hypertensive patients persist with that treatment.

The data were presented at the 2nd International Forum on Angiotensin II Receptor Antagonism, held in Monte Carlo, Monaco, last month. The study confirms that angiotensin II receptor antagonists provide the best persistence of all currently-prescribed antihypertensive drugs, and highlights the fact that by prescribing one AIIRA in particular, irbesartan (Aprovel/Avapro from Sanofi-Synthelabo and Bristol-Myers Squibb), doctors can help their patients to persist for longer with treatment than with any other blood pressure-lowering agent. The ICE study, which was supported by a grant from B-MS, showed that:

- more patients stayed on monotherapy with irbesartan than with other antihypertensives (60.8% vs 44.2%); - fewer patients on irbesartan (16.1%) required additional antihypertensive therapies than those using other drugs (25.3%); - fewer patients needed to switch from irbesartan than from other antihypertensives (9% vs 13.6%); and - significantly more patients stayed on their therapy when initially prescribed irbesartan (76.8%) than those started on other antihypertensives (69.5%).