English summary: HYPERTENSION TREATMENT IN FINLAND STILL NOT OPTIMAL

We examined whether the number of treated Finnish hypertensive patients reaching blood pressure target of below 140/85 mmHg has increased since the beginning of the 21st century.

The sample consisted of 823 hypertensive patients from 72 general practice offices in the year 2006. A total of 718 ot these patients were drug treated.

Only 23.3% (22.5% of men and 23.6% of women) of all drug-treated patients reached the target of below 140/85 mmHg. The target of below 130/80 mmHg was reached by 11.5% of the diabetic patients. Monotherapy was used by 36.6% of the patients. Beta blocker were the most popular antihypertensive agent used (46.7% of the patients). LDL-cholesterol was below 2.5 mmol/l in 34.9% of users of lipid lowering medication and in 24.3% of non-users. Altogether 83% of the patients were obese. Only 17% smoked.

The number of Finnish hypertensive patients reaching the blood pressure target is still low even though new hypertension guidelines have been published. Still only one fourth of drug treated patients reach the target. Combination therapy should be used more often and the use of life-style changes intensified since most of the patients were obese. Cholesterol levels were also still too high.