RESUMEN
OBJECTIVES: To determine the level of therapeutic inertia (TI), and the factors associated to the patient, doctor and the health organisation, in hypertensive patients treated in Primary Care (PC). DESIGN: Cross-sectional, multicentre study. SETTING: A sample of PC Teams from all over Spain. PARTICIPANTS: The study was conducted among PC doctors using a questionnaire and clinical records of 4 patients. MAIN MEASUREMENTS: The TI was calculated for each patient (TIp) as the proportion of visits in which there was no change in medication when this was indicated. RESULTS: A total of 543 PC doctors provided data on 2,032 patients, who fulfilled the indication of a change in requirement. There was TI In 77.8% of cases. The TIp observed was non-existent or low for 17.1% of the patients, intermediate for 42% and high for 40.8%. For the patients, the factors most associated with TIp were, age (P<.001), diabetes (P<.001), stroke (P<.01), obesity (P<.01) and a low education level (P<.001). To be female, be less than 40 years or more than 55 years, to be a family doctor with a training program other than MIR and to work in the public sector increased the probability of TIp (P<.001 for all the assumptions). CONCLUSIONS: The results of the study indicate that there is TI in 7 out every 10 visits made by hypertensive patients in Primary care. There are significant differences as regards the clinical characteristics of the patients and of the doctors.