LAUSR

Objective: Hypertension (HT) is the leading reason for visits to general practitioners (GPs). Due to insufficient adherence and marked therapeutic inertia, there is room for improving blood pressure control in France. The objective of this study is to describe the antihypertensive treatment prescribing behaviours in French general practice. Design and method: Data from the IQVIA Longitudinal Patient Database (LPD) France were used. LPD France is a permanent observatory to which a nationally representative panel of physicians – including GPs (n=1200) – contribute anonymised electronic medical records (EMR). The analysis included all antihypertensive treatment prescriptions from July 2020 to June 2021, which were then extrapolated to the entire population. The following definitions were used to categorise the prescribing behaviours: INITIATION - for hypertensive patients already registered with the GP and who had been prescribed an antihypertensive treatment for the first time in 24 months; RENEWAL - for hypertensive patients whose therapeutic class had not changed, apart from dosage modifications, changes of molecule within the same class and titrations; CHANGE - for hypertensive patients for whom a therapeutic class had been added, withdrawn, and/or changed. Results: In 2021, a total of 11 557 545 hypertensive patients had received an antihypertensive treatment prescription following consultation with a GP. These were distributed as follows: Conclusions: These findings provide informative data on the prescribing behaviours of GPs, primarily marked by a renewal rate that does not appear to reflect the reality of blood pressure control in France. Prescription modifications are in the minority, and essentially consist of class rotations. This observation requires urgent reflection when it comes to the training of prescribers and the value placed on blood pressure control under the French public health objectives pay-for-performance scheme. *IQVIA EMR LPD Médecins Généralistes ‘. EMR = Electronic Medical Records, LPD = Longitudinal Patient Data