Rational Prescribing and Deprescribing of Antihypertensive Medications in Older People, a Three-Part Narrative Review, Part 3

Abstract

What happens when you stop? This is the third of a three-part series on antihypertensive medication use in older people. In the first, we reviewed the importance of better blood pressure (BP) control, even in older people with hypertension. In the second, we discussed the limitations of the evidence favoring intensive therapy for some older people. For older people with advanced frailty or those with a limited life expectancy, medications taken for BP can actually be a source of morbidity. Guidelines encourage clinical judgment and rational prescribing. Sometimes the best action is to stop prescribing. De-prescribing of medical therapy is now considered good practice for a range of medications for suitable patients; should this include antihypertensives? In part three of this three-part series, we will review some of the evidence available thus far, demonstrating de-intensification of antihypertensive medications is not a new idea. We will offer a guide to identifying the most suitable patients for de-prescribing: cognitive impairment, frailty, when circumstances change, or when BP is (too) well-controlled. This is an area of equipoise and needs more research. There is a path forward that we hope to illuminate.