Methodology

Hypertension control: results from the Diabetes Care Program of Nova Scotia registry and impact of changing clinical practice guidelines

Cory Russell¹ , Peggy Dunbar² , Sonia Salisbury² , Ingrid Sketris^1,3 and George Kephart¹

¹  Department of Community Health and Epidemiology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada

²  Diabetes Care Program of Nova Scotia, Halifax, Canada

³  College of Pharmacy, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada

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Cardiovascular Diabetology 2005, 4:11doi:10.1186/1475-2840-4-11

Published:	20 July 2005

Abstract

Background

The objective of this study was to determine the rate of blood pressure control according to 4 sets of Canadian guidelines published over a decade in patients with diabetes mellitus attending Diabetes Centres in the province of Nova Scotia.

Methods

One hundred randomly selected charts from each of 13 Diabetes Centres audited between 1997 and 2001 were extracted from the Diabetes Care Program of Nova Scotia Registry. Multivariate logistic regression analyses examined the relationship between individual characteristics and self-reported antihypertensive use. Included were 1132 adults, mean age 63 years (48% male), with 9 years mean time since diagnosis of diabetes.

Results

According to the 1992 guidelines, 63% of the patients and according to the 2003 guidelines, 84% of patients were above target blood pressure or receiving antihypertensive medications. Forty-seven percent of patients are considered to be hypertensive and not on treatment according to 2003 guidelines. The results of the multivariate analyses showed that the only factors independently associated with anti-hypertensive use was oral anti-hyperglycemic use.

Conclusion

Hypertension is an additional risk factor in those with diabetes mellitus for macrovascular and microvascular complications. The health and budgetary impacts of addressing the treatment gap need to be further explored.