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Trends in antihypertensive use among privately insured hypertensive clients in Ghana

Journal of Human Hypertension (2024)Cite this article

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Abstract

The objective of the study was to describe the patterns of antihypertensive medicines (AHM) in a selected national population in Ghana. The claims data for all privately insured patients in Ghana over three years to 2018 were analysed. The classes of medicines used, the dose by time, gender and age, and generic status were examined. In addition, the use in Defined Daily Dose (DDD) per 1000 population per day was estimated. Classes of AHM prescribed were CCB, ARB, ACEI, diuretics, and BB. Amlodipine, nifedipine, losartan, lisinopril, and bendroflumethiazide accounted for 74% of all use. The most widely used single CCB was amlodipine 3.92 DDD/1,000 population/day in 2016, 3.92 DDD/1,000 population/day in 2017, and 4.92 DDD/1,000 population/day in 2018. In those aged 51–60 years, use of CCB in women (74.0 DDD/1,000 population/day) was almost twice that of men (38.3 DDD/1,000 population/day). The top ten medicines accounted for 93% of all single medicine products in 2018. Most single medicine products was generic (76.5% in 2016; 79.9% in 2017 and 83.1% in 2018) whiles most fixed combination products were branded (73.0% in 2016; 89.7% in 2017 and 91.3% in 2018). The patterns of AHM use are clinically expected although the Ghana Standard Treatment guidelines are not directive about lines of treatment.

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Fig. 1: Antihypertensive medicine use (DDD/1000 population/day) by year (2016–2018).
Fig. 2: Antihypertensive medicine use (DDD/1000 population/day) by gender and age (specified groups) in 2018.

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Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are not openly available due to reasons of sensitivity. Data is in a controlled access data storage of Rx Info Systems. However, the anonymised data is available upon request from the corresponding author.

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Author notes

  1. Deceased: Jacob Plange-Rhule.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana

    Afia Frimpomaa Asare Marfo & Samantha Hollingworth

  2. School of Business, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana

    John Serbe Marfo

  3. Dept of Physiology, School of Medicine and Dentistry, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana

    Jacob Plange-Rhule

  4. School of Pharmacy, University of Queensland, Woolloongabba, QLD, 4102, Australia

    Samantha Hollingworth

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Contributions

AFAM, JSM, & SH: Conception, design, acquisition, and analysis of data. AFAM, JSM, SH & JPR: Drafting of manuscript and revising it. AFAM, JSM, SH & JPR: Revising and approval of final manuscript to be published.

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Correspondence to Afia Frimpomaa Asare Marfo.

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Competing interests

JSM has been reimbursed as consultant in the design of the Rx Claim software developed by Rx Health Info Systems for Health Insurance Firms in Ghana and Africa.

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Marfo, A.F.A., Marfo, J.S., Plange-Rhule, J. et al. Trends in antihypertensive use among privately insured hypertensive clients in Ghana. J Hum Hypertens (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41371-023-00885-z

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