Hypertension

Treatment Strategies to Control Blood Pressure in People With Hypertension in Tanzania and Lesotho: A Randomized Clinical Trial

JAMA CardiolPublished Randomised controlled trial

An erratum to this article was published (JAMA Cardiol, 1 Apr 2025 ↗)

Primary result · Target BP reached (non-inferiority analysis)Result — go to the resultAdjusted odds ratio 1.18 95% CI 0.87–1.61

Authors' conclusion

Results of this randomized clinical trial show that in 2 African settings, for adults with uncomplicated untreated hypertension, a strategy starting a 2-pill low-dose treatment was noninferior to starting stepped monotherapy. Two-pill and 3-pill low-dose strategies were not superior to stepped monotherapy.

Study context

Population
Nonpregnant Black African adults with uncomplicated, untreated hypertension, rural Lesotho and Tanzaniarandomized 2:2:1
Participants
1,268 adults
Comparison
2-pill or 3-pill low-dose strategy vs stepped monotherapy
  • Monotherapyn = 505reference
  • 2-pilln = 510
  • 3-pilln = 253
Primary endpoint
Proportion reaching target BP (≤130/80 mm Hg if <65 years; ≤140/90 mm Hg if ≥65 years)
Follow-up
12 weeks
Methodological detailsopen-label, parallel, 3-arm, non-inferiority (margin 10%) and superiority, 2 hospitals
  • Open-label
  • Parallel
  • 3-arm
  • Non-inferiority (margin 10%) and superiority
  • 2 hospitals

Primary result

Target BP reached (non-inferiority analysis)

Adjusted odds ratio

1.18

95% CI 0.87–1.61

Events by treatment group

2-pillvs Monotherapy
aOR 1.18 (95% CI 0.87–1.61)

Non-inferiority margin 10 as printed, not drawn

As reported in the abstract

Further findings

OutcomeMonotherapy2-pill3-pillaOR (95% CI)P value
Target BP reached (superiority analysis, multiple imputation) · 12 weeks2-pillvs MonotherapyMultiple imputation for missing outcome data49%55%57%1.24 (0.94–1.63)P = 0.12
Target BP reached (superiority analysis, multiple imputation) · 12 weeks3-pillvs MonotherapyMultiple imputation for missing outcome data1.28 (0.91–1.79)P = 0.16

Original publication

Treatment Strategies to Control Blood Pressure in People With Hypertension in Tanzania and Lesotho: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Cardiol. Published 1 April 2025. doi:10.1001/jamacardio.2024.5124

Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →

Get them every week

New studies on this topic in My Week and in your Monday e-mail.

We e-mail you a sign-in link and a code. No password, no spam.