Background The goal of the study was to evaluate antihypertensive efficacy and the quality of life (QoL) in hypertensive patients treated with an angiotensin II receptor antagonist - eprosartan, both in mono- or in combination therapy.
Material and methods The study population consisted of 85 patients with mild to moderate essential hypertension (47 men and 38 women), age 45.1 ± 13.9 yrs. Mean SBP was 154.0 mm Hg and DBP was 99.2 mm Hg. At baseline 16 patients (18.6%) were untreated, and 70 (81.4%) were treated with monotherapy: thiazide-like diuretic (14 pts), beta-blocker (13 pts), ACE inhibitor (20 pts), calcium antagonist (18 pts), alpha-blocker (2 pts), centrally acting drug (3 pts). BP and heart rate were measured at baseline and on each control visit (every 4 weeks for 16 weeks). In all patients eprosartan 600 mg once daily was used. In patients who did not reach BP control (BP < 140/90 mm Hg) after 8 weeks, hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) 12.5 mg daily was added. QoL was evaluated at baseline and after 16 weeks by the Psychological General Well-being Index questionnaire (PGWB).
Results After 16 weeks of treatment with eprosartan. BP was significantly decreased (154.0/99.2 vs. 129.4/85.1 mm Hg, p < 0.01), both in men and in women. At the end of the study in all patients blood pressure control was obtained. HCTZ was added to 14 patients (16.5%) during the study. Most pronounced reduction of BP was observed in patients treated with eprosartan + thiazide-like diuretic, eprosartan + calcium antagonist and eprosartan + ACE inhibitor. After 16 weeks significant improvement of QoL (PGWB 88.4 ± 9,1 vs. 101.4 ± 10,3 points, p < 0.01) was observed. The total score of the PGWB and its subscales improved significantly in both sexes, except of “self-control” subscale.
Conclusions Eprosartan provides good antihypertensive efficacy and significantly improves quality of life, irrespective of gender. Higher QoL during treatment with eprosartan is strictly related to better blood pressure control.