Affiliations 

  • 1 Institute for Public Health, National Institutes of Health, Ministry of Health Malaysia, Setia Alam, 40170, Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia. kimsui@moh.gov.my
  • 2 Centre for Epidemiology and Evidence-Based Practice, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Malaya, 50603, Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  • 3 Institute for Public Health, National Institutes of Health, Ministry of Health Malaysia, Setia Alam, 40170, Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia
  • 4 Disease Control Division, Federal Government Administration Centre, Ministry of Health, 62590, Putrajaya, Malaysia
  • 5 Family Health Development Division, Federal Government Administration Centre, Ministry of Health Malaysia, 62590, Putrajaya, Malaysia
  • 6 Medical Department, Hospital Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan, 71050, Port Dickson, Malaysia
Sci Rep, 2024 Jun 01;14(1):12625.
PMID: 38824234 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-63617-4

Abstract

Treatment intensification is essential to ensure guideline targets are attained in diabetes patients. The failure to intensify treatment when the targets are not achieved is therapeutic inertia. This study aimed to determine the proportions and factors associated with treatment intensification and therapeutic inertia of antihypertensive therapy in type 2 diabetes patients with uncontrolled hypertension in Malaysia. A retrospective cohort analysis was conducted utilising registry data. Diabetes hypertensive patients with uncontrolled baseline systolic or diastolic blood pressure were included. Treatment intensification was the increase in the number of antihypertensive agents from the index treatment. Therapeutic inertia was the absence of treatment intensification when the second blood pressure reading was still uncontrolled. About 6956 patients were followed up over 2.5 ± 1.1 person-years. Treatment intensification was observed in 29.8% of patients, while 38.6% had therapeutic inertia. Chinese, Indian, and 'others' ethnic groups, retinopathy, more antihypertensive agents, and higher systolic blood pressure were associated with therapeutic inertia. Underweight, overweight patients and those with dyslipidaemia had lower risks for therapeutic inertia. The results indicate suboptimal quality of care in public health clinics in Malaysia. Further studies are needed to determine the underlying causes to formulate precise interventions to tackle the problem in Malaysia.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.