Antihypertensive agents prescribed for patients undergoing dialysis therapy: a multicenter survey

Antihypertensive drugs in prescriptions were investigated in 2, 604 patients (1, 572 males and 1, 032 females; mean age 62.3±11.9 years old; mean±SD) undergoing renal replacement therapy in 9 hospitals. Differences in the numbers of prescribed antihypertensive drugs at diagnosis, kind of renal replacement therapy, duration of renal replacement therapy, age, and gender were investigated. Some type of antihypertensive medication was prescribed to 63.7% of the patients, and the most frequently prescribed species of antihypertensive drugs was Ca antagonist in 50.9%, followed by angiotensin receptor blocker in 23.9%, angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor 15.9%, α blocker in 12.9%, β blocker in 10.0%, and other antihypertensive drugs in 3.2%. Mean number of prescribed antihypertensive drugs in the DM group (n=747) was 1.49±1.26 drugs, which was significantly higher than that in the non DM group (1.11±1.20 drugs; p