Implementation of hypertension guidelines by general practitioner societies and the use of single pill combinations in Europe-results of the survey of the general practitioner nucleus of European society of hypertension
Creators: name: Nemcsik, János
name: Rodilla, Enrique
name: Albini, Fabiolucio
name: Doumas, Michael
name: Boivin, Jean-Marc
name: Gyöngyösi, Helga
name: Kreutz, Reinhold
name: de Pinho, Rosa
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2025
Subjects: subject: Medicine
subject: Biotechnology
subject: Sociology
subject: FOS: Sociology
subject: Mathematical Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Computational Biology

description: The implementation of hypertension guidelines into the everyday practice of general practitioners (GPs) have an outmost importance to provide optimal care for patients. The aim of our study was, on the one hand to gain insight about the relationship between hypertension societies and GP societies, and on the other hand, to get feedback about the use of single pill combinations (SPC) in each country, as an indicator of guideline implementation. The European Society of Hypertension (ESH) GP Nucleus initiated a survey containing 17 questions about the existence and number of national hypertension and GP societies, the relationship between them and with pharmacists and nurse associations, the authors of national guidelines and the availability of SPCs. The survey was sent to the national hypertension society representatives of ESH. Additionally, data about the number of SPCs sold yearly was also checked using IQVIA database. Responses were collected from 25 European countries. In most of the countries there is only one hypertension society (23/25) and one GP society (18/25), most of which having a relationship with each other (22/25). Of the countries with national hypertension guidelines most of them are written by the national hypertension society (45%) followed by the GP society (27%) or by public administration (27%). Two thirds of the national hypertension societies (16/25) have relationship with nurse societies and half of them (12/25) with pharmacists. In 65% (15/23) of the guidelines dual SPC therapy is recommended for treatment initiation however, marked differences are present in the number of yearly sold SPCs in different countries. National hypertension societies have remarkable impact on GPs for the management of hypertensive patients. However, improvement is needed in the collaboration with nurse and pharmacist societies and in some countries in the use of SPCs for hypertension therapy. What is the background? Hypertension guidelines provide up-to-date recommendations for clinicians about the optimal management of hypertensive patients. However, without proper implementation, guidelines can not improve hypertension care. In our study we evaluated the relationship between national hypertension and general practitioner (GP) societies and clarified gaps in the implementation of hypertension guidelines among different European nations. We also aimed to provide a report on the tendency of the use of antihypertensive single pill combinations (SPCs) in the past years in different European countries, which can be a good marker of guideline implementation. What is new? Based on 25 responder countries our survey discovered that in most of them there is one hypertension society, of which the majority has a relationship with their GP society. In half of the countries, hypertension guidelines are written by the national hypertension society, but in many countries by GP societies or by the national administration. SPCs are available in all countries; however, in the past four years the changes of the proportion in the use of pills containing one agent and SPCs demonstrated marked differences throughout Europe. What is the impact? Our results suggest that hypertension societies and GP societies have relationship with each other in most of the countries, which facilitates guideline implementation. Interestingly the use of SPCs in hypertension management shows a variable picture in Europe with some countries revealing a very low SPC usage, and in which hypertension guideline implementation could require improvement.