TUSCON, Ariz., Oct. 1 -- Less than half of the hypertensive patients in California take blood pressure lowering medications, researchers found.
Having routine medical visits appeared to be the most predictive factor for use of medication among the 49.4% of those who do take antihypertensives, according to survey findings presented here at the American Heart Association's Conference of the Council for High Blood Pressure Research.
Those who had seen a physician in the prior year were 5.23 times more likely to take medication for their hypertension, reported David J. Reynen, M.P.P.A., M.P.H., of the California Department of Public Health in Sacramento, Calif., and colleagues.
"Everybody who had hypertension as they define it here would need drug therapy," commented Daniel W. Jones, M.D., of the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, Miss., and president of the American Heart Association.
