Abstract:
Objective To investigate the use of antihypertensive drugs in hospitalized children with hypertension in China in the past 10 years. Methods The data were collected from 9 tertiary children?s hospitals of Futang Research Center of Pediatric Development. A total of 5 384 children who were diagnosed with hypertension and hospitalized for the first time between January 2010 and December 2020 were included for the analyses. The drug types, off-label use of drugs and drug combination among children with different subtypes of hypertension were analyzed using Chi-square test/Fisher exact probability test. Results Among the 5 384 hospitalized hypertensive children, 2 930(54.4%) were received antihypertensive drugs. Calcium channel blockers(CCB) and angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibitor(ACEI) were the most commonly used drug types, and their combination was the most common drug regimen for the children who received with antihypertensives, However, the drug types and combinations of drugs varied greatly among children with different causes, degrees and subtypes of hypertension. In addition, 1 325(45.2%) children received off-label medications. Conclusion The most frequent antihypertensive drugs are CCB and ACEI among hospitalized hypertensive children in China, and the use of off-label antihypertensive medications is prevailed.