Primary care prescribing patterns in Ireland after the publication of large hypertension trials

Aims: This study assessed prescribing patterns of antihypertensive therapies (AHT) before and after the publication of the LIFE, ALLHAT and VALUE trials between 2000 and 2005. Methods: The Irish HSE-PCRS prescribing database was used to identify those initiated any AHT. Any change 12 months before and after the trial publications was examined using a segmented regression analysis. Results: There was little or no effect of any of the trials on new AHT prescribing, except for ALLHAT where there was an increase in new prescriptions for ACE inhibitors, and VALUE with a slight increase in prescriptions for calcium channel blockers. Conclusions: Our findings show that there was little or no effect of any of the three clinical trials studied on new AHT prescribing patterns in Irish general practice. Future studies should assess any underlying barriers to implementing new evidence into clinical practice.