COURSE OVERVIEW
Physicians play a central role in managing hypertensive patients. Managing hypertension needs to be viewed not as an isolated disorder, but as part of a patients’ global cardiovascular (CV) risk, resulting from the concomitant presence of a variety of risk factors, organ damage (left ventricular hypertrophy, carotid or peripheral atherosclerosis, microalbuminuria or impaired glomerular filtration rate) and hypertension-related clinical conditions. Correct choice of antihypertensive drug should depend on choice of timing of administration and its intensity should be based on blood pressure (BP)-lowering efficacy and the propensity to favourably impact patient’s individual absolute CV disease risk profile.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
At the end of this activity the participant will be able to understand:
• Describe the quality of hypertension (HTN) control among primary care physicians
• Identify the accuracy with which physicians estimate cardiovascular (CV) risk in patients with HTN
• Describe the additional CV risk conferred by HTN on other CV risk factors
• Identify the primary outcome for which physicians treat HTN