LAUSR

Objectives: Patient-physician concordance is an important concern in the treatment of elderly patients with hypertension (HT). Treatment that considers concordance is necessary for mutual understanding and therapeutic satisfaction between patients and physicians. However, there have been no studies addressing concordance that objectively analyzed both patient and physician satisfaction before and after treatment. Methods: An exploratory open-label, multicenter, intervention study was conducted. Patients with HT undergoing treatment with angiotensin-receptor blocker (ARB) or a calcium-channel blocker (CCB) monotherapy were enrolled. Medication was switched to an ARB/CCB combination tablet and taken for 12 weeks. Physicians and patients participated in satisfaction surveys concerning treatment. Results: Discrepancies in satisfaction levels between patients and physicians were found at baseline for the following survey items: treatment, involvement in treatment, understanding of HT, reliance, medication, and blood pressure. After treatment, patient satisfaction rates showed an increase for treatment (69.4% to 90.1%), antihypertensive drugs (60.0% to 76.5%), clinic BP (37.0% to 68.8%), and home BP (41.2% to 67.5%). The QOL survey for patients showed significantly increase in the QOL score for general health (p = 0.0191). Conclusions: The rates of satisfaction were relatively higher for patients compared with physicians at baseline. After HT treatment addressing concordance, both patient and physician satisfaction rates and the gap in satisfaction rates between patients and physicians improved. Conclusion: This indicates that addressing concordance has clinical significance in the treatment of elderly HT patients.