Resumo

SAENZ-CAMPOS, Desirée; TINOCO-MORA, Zahira  e  ROJAS-MORA, Laura. EUM: antihipertensivos en la seguridad social y análisis comparativo entre centros de atención médica ambulatoria. Acta méd. costarric [online]. 2001, vol.43, n.1, pp.20-26. ISSN 0001-6002.

Justification: Systemic hypertension is a chronic and asymptomatic disease. lt is the first cause of ambulatory medical visits. lt contributes directly to the first cause of mortality in the country, and it is almost always treatable with an integral intervention which includes pharmacological therapy. Objective: To identify the most prescribes drugs at institutional level, to evaluate if the resultant profile is compatible with the principies of the rational use of antihypertensive drugs and to compare the use of these drugs in similar ambulatory medical care clinics during a year.   Methods: An pharmacoepidemilogic observational study type; a revision of institutional consumption was obtained of each antihipertensive drug during one year (1999), and local report of monthly consumption during 1999 of six ambulatory medical care clinics. The defined diary dose (DDD) was calculated and estimation of treated patients.   Results: Most prescribed drugs were atenolol (25%), enalapril (21%) and hidroclorotiazida (19%). According to DDD, the global consumption of atenolol was 39%, enalapril 25% and hidroclorotiacida 23%, which benefits 87% of the patients treated. The antihypertensive drug treatinent was given lo about 185,639 patients. At local level, the consumption profiles tend lo simulate the institutional distribution because of the predominant use of atenolol, but the diuretics are alternated with enalapril. We obtained variations in the mensual consumption during the period.   Conclusions: All antihipertensives drugs available are used although their consumption showed an heterogeneous profile. The drugs that were most prescribes at local level reflect in the national institutional profile, but there are remarkable local variations. The prescription of these drugs showed a rational use of antihypertensive drugs in the ambulatory management. The estimations derived from the consumption suggest that a great proportion of patients have no control, or are treated by private physicians.

Palavras-chave : Estudios de utilización de medicamentos; hipertensión arterial; atenolol; enalapril; hidroclorotiacida.