Table 1 Study cohort descriptive characteristics (N = 48,212)
| Â | Initial anti-hypertensive therapy | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Characteristics | HCTZ (N = 34,934, 72.5%) | ARB/HCTZ (N = 4,469, 9.3%) | ACEI/HCTZ (N = 6,388, 13.2%) | BB/HCTZ (N = 2,421, 5.0%) |
Mean age in years ± SD | 53.6 ± 15.3 | 54.6 ± 13.8 | 54.3 ± 13.9 | 52.2 ± 13.8 |
Age in categories | Â | Â | Â | Â |
   18 – 44 (%) | 10,296 (29.5) | 1,006 (22.5) | 1,486 (23.3) | 712 (29.4) |
   45 – 54 (%) | 9,769 (28.0) | 1,457 (32.6) | 2,021 (31.6) | 780 (32.2) |
   55 – 64 (%) | 6,423 (18.4) | 1,006 (22.5) | 1,469 (23.0) | 505 (20.9) |
   65 – 74 (%) | 4,500 (12.9) | 570 (12.8) | 824 (12.9) | 256 (10.6) |
   75 – 84 (%) | 2,925 (8.4) | 327 (7.3) | 443 (6.9) | 115 (4.8) |
   85 and above (%) | 1,021 (2.9) | 103 (2.3) | 145 (2.3) | 53 (2.2) |
Frequency female (%) | 24,495 (70.1) | 2,573 (57.6) | 3,629 (56.8) | 1,356 (56.0) |
RxRiska, b | Â | Â | Â | Â |
   Behavioral Health | 6,413 (18.4) | 653 (14.6) | 810 (12.7) | 332 (13.7) |
   Cardiovascular Conditions | 2,012 (5.8) | 435 (9.7) | 874 (13.7) | 128 (5.3) |
   Gastric acid disorder, IBS | 2,768 (7.9) | 250 (5.6) | 351 (5.5) | 147 (6.1) |
   Asthma, Allergic Rhinitis | 2,590 (7.4) | 196 (4.4) | 301 (4.7) | 79 (3.3) |
   Diabetes | 843 (2.4) | 147 (3.3) | 281 (4.4) | 23 (1.0) |
   Thyroid Disease | 2,193 (6.3) | 230 (5.1) | 321 (5.0) | 108 (4.5) |
   Rheumatoid Arthritis, Gout | 1,273 (3.6) | 120 (2.7) | 171 (2.7) | 50 (2.1) |
Primary market segment | Â | Â | Â | Â |
   HMO | 24,562 (70.3) | 2,644 (59.2) | 4,656 (72.9) | 1,631 (67.4) |
   Medicaid | 4,103 (11.8) | 125 (2.8) | 300 (4.7) | 112 (4.6) |
   Medicare | 2,285 (6.5) | 227 (5.1) | 355 (5.6) | 122 (5.0) |
   Self-insured | 3,984 (11.4) | 1,473 (33.0) | 1,077 (16.9) | 556 (23.0) |
Average copay ($)c | 5.2 ± 4.2 | 22.8 ± 19.0 | 14.0 ± 13.0 | 9.2 ± 8.7 |