Many Stroke Patients Not Treated for Hypertension

A significant number of stroke patientsare not receiving drug therapy to lowertheir blood pressure (BP) upon dischargefrom the hospital, even though it has beenproven to help reduce the risk of anotherstroke. Researchers showed great inconsistencyamong hospitals in antihypertensiveprescription rates for stroke patients.The report was published in a recent editionof Stroke.

Bruce Ovbiagele, MD, from the Universityof California at Los Angeles said that"there should be a concerted effort?tomake sure that patients do not leave thehospital without being on at least one BPagent to reduce their risk for secondarystroke."

The study involved 764 patients whowere treated at 11 California hospitals fora stroke or transient ischemic attack.About 30% of these patients did notreceive a prescription for at least one antihypertensivedrug. High BP, diabetes, andadvanced age all increased the odds thata patient would receive a prescription foran antihypertensive agent upon discharge.Dr. Ovbiagele pointed out, however,that the short-term risk of secondarystroke is high, and "that makes it evenmore important to be sure that patientsare put on proven therapies for preventinga recurrent event."