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Attitudes and preferences for the clinical management of patients with hypertension and hypertension with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Italy: main results of a survey questionnaire

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Abstract

Hypertension treatment and control represent a clinical challenge, particularly in case of concomitant risk factors and comorbidities, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). To evaluate attitudes and preferences for the clinical management of hypertension and hypertension associated with COPD by a large community sample of physicians in Italy. A predefined 18-item survey questionnaire was anonymously administered to both specialised physicians (SPs) and general practitioners (GPs), who have been included in an educational programme, performed between January and June 2014. A total of 1181 physicians (767 males, mean age 55.8 ± 7.3 years, average age of medical activity 27.6 ± 8.3 years), among whom 64 (5.4 %) SPs and 1117 (94.6 %) GPs, provided 21,809 valid answers to the survey questionnaire. Concomitant presence of hypertension and COPD was frequently associated (21–40 %) with hypertension-related organ damage and comorbidities. Concomitant presence of hypertension and COPD was able to affect physicians’ ability to achieve the recommended therapeutic targets. To achieve the recommended BP goals, ACE inhibitors or ARBs were considered the most effective antihypertensive strategies, both in monotherapies and in combination therapies with either diuretics or calcium-channel blockers. This observational, cross-sectional survey provides useful information on physicians’ attitudes and preferences for the clinical management of patients with hypertension and hypertension associated with COPD.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Mrs Giusy Mazza from Springer Health care Italy for her help and assistance for data collection, as well as all involved physicians, who provided answers to the survey questionnaire.

Conflict of interest

MV and CB have served in international advisory boards of Daiichi Sankyo, Menarini, Malesci, and Guidotti, and have lectured in symposia supported by several drug companies producing ACE Inhibitors and ARBs; GT, AFG, AF and MS have lectured in symposia supported by Menarini, Malesci, and Guidotti.

Statement of human and animal rights

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. This article does not contain any studies with human and animals performed by any of the authors.

Informed consent

Written consent to participate to the educational programme was obtained from all involved physicians.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hypertension Unit, Division of Cardiology, Department of Clinical and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, Sant’Andrea Hospital, University of Rome “Sapienza”, Via di Grottarossa 1035, 00189, Rome, Italy

    Giuliano Tocci, Jasmine Passerini, Maria Beatrice Musumeci, Andrea Ferrucci & Massimo Volpe

  2. IRCCS Neuromed, Pozzilli, IS, Italy

    Giuliano Tocci & Massimo Volpe

  3. Division of Internal Medicine, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy

    Arrigo F. Cicero & Claudio Borghi

  4. Department of Clinical and Experimental Sciences, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy

    Massimo Salvetti

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  1. Giuliano Tocci
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  2. Arrigo F. Cicero
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  3. Massimo Salvetti
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  4. Jasmine Passerini
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  5. Maria Beatrice Musumeci
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  6. Andrea Ferrucci
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Giuliano Tocci.

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Tocci, G., Cicero, A.F., Salvetti, M. et al. Attitudes and preferences for the clinical management of patients with hypertension and hypertension with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Italy: main results of a survey questionnaire. Intern Emerg Med 10, 943–954 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11739-015-1256-y

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