Improved blood pressure control by monitoring compliance with antihypertensive therapy

Compliance with antihypertensive therapy was monitored for three months usi ng an electronic medication dispenser in 35 patients remaining hypertensive despite the once-daily administration of a blood pressure lowering drug (e ither as monotherapy or as fixed-dose combination therapy). During the moni toring of compliance, the treatment was unchanged but blood pressure decrea sed significantly (p<0.001) from 167.9/100.4 +/- 16.3/7.2 mmHg (mean +/- SD ) to 152.5/90.9 +/- 20.9/11.5 mmHg, The percentage of days with one opening per day was 80.8 +/- 20.5. Thus, discussing with the patient about complia nce with the prescribed drug regimen and monitoring compliance for a few mo nths allows better control of blood pressure. This most likely reflects inc reased compliance with antihypertensive drug therapy.