Blood pressure response to out-patient drug treatment of hypertension in 1973-1993 at Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Accra, Ghana

A retrospective audit of the first twelve months of out patient drug treatment of hypertension at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital during the period 1973-1993 is reported. A previous study had shown that at least 7 drug regimes were used to treat hypertension at Korle-Bu during the period. The aim of the present study was to compare the effect and efficacy of these antihypertensive drug treatment regimes on blood pressure during the first 12 months of treatment. Result of 155 (47%) case notes, which met the inclusion criteria, are presented. One month of drug treatment of hypertension significantly reduced systolic and diastolic blood pressure by 21.4 +/- 30.5 (p