Metoprolol or hydrochlorothiazide in patients with hypertension aged 60-75 years. With special reference to assessment of compliance. Hunter Hypertension Research Group.

The blood pressure of patients with hypertension who were aged between 60 and 75 years responded equally well to treatment with metoprolol (100 mg a day) or hydrochlorothiazide (25 mg a day) in a double-blind study which employed random allocation to two parallel groups. Drug-related variables other than blood pressure were used as markers of compliance. The resting heart rate alone discriminated substantially between the groups, but the discrimination was not increased by the inclusion of plasma potassium or plasma urate levels in the calculation. For the assessment of compliance, we suggest that greater use could be made of objective variables that are altered by drug treatment and are unrelated to the primary variable of interest in the study.