Timing of Blood Pressure Meds Has No Impact on Outcomes

TUESDAY, Sept. 10, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Taking blood pressure (BP) medications in the morning or at night does not impact outcomes, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the European Society of Cardiology, held Aug. 30 to Sept. 2 in London.

Scott Garrison, M.D., Ph.D., from University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, and colleagues evaluated whether bedtime use of BP medications is associated with a lower risk for major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) than morning timing. The analysis included 3,357 primary care patients with hypertension (March 2017 to December 2023) and 776 continuing care residents (May 2020 to February 2024) randomly assigned to either bedtime or morning BP medication use.

The researchers found that during a median follow-up of 4.6 years, the primary outcome of MACE occurred in 9.7 percent of primary care participants in the bedtime group and 10.3 percent in the morning group (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 0.96; 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 0.77 to 1.19; P = 0.70). Additionally, there were no differences in safety outcomes and all-cause hospitalization or emergency department visits between the groups. Among the nursing home participants, during a median of 415 days, the primary outcome of MACE occurred in 40.6 percent of participants in the bedtime group and 41.9 percent in the usual care group (aHR, 0.88; 95 percent CI, 0.71 to 1.11; P = 0.28). 

“Blood pressure medication should be taken whenever it is most convenient, and least likely to be forgotten. Morning and bedtime use convey similar cardiovascular benefit,” the authors write.

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