Generalizability of guidelines and physicians' adherence. Case study on the Sixth Joint National Commitee's guidelines on hypertension

Table 2 Trials on diuretics and/or β-blockers on which the recommendation of the JNC VI are based.

	Eligibility criteria			Exclusion criteria*
	Age (years)	Gender	Blood pressure** (mmHg)	Myocardial infarction	Stroke	Heart failure	Renal impairment
VA-NHBLI [36]	35 – 55	Males	DBP: 85–105	Excluded	Excluded	Excluded	Excluded
HDPF [37]	30 – 69	Both	DBP ≥ 90	Included	Included	Included	Included
Oslo [45]	40 – 50	Male	SBP: 145–180 DBP<110	Excluded	Excluded	Excluded	Excluded
Australia [43]	30 – 70	Both	DBP: 95–110 SBP<200	Excluded	Excluded	Included	Included
MRC [40]	35 – 64	Both	DBP: 90–109	Included	Included	Included	Included
VA I [34]	< 70	Male	DBP: 115–129	Included	Included	Included	Included
VA II [35]	< 70	Male	DBP: 90–114	Included	Included	Included	Included
PHS [44]	< 55	Both	DBP: 90–114	Excluded	Excluded	Excluded	Excluded
HSCSG [33]	< 75	Both	SBP: 140–220 DBP: 90–115	Included	Included	Included	Excluded
Barraclough [32]	56 – 69	Both	DBP: 100–120	Included	Included	Included	Included
Carter [38]	< 80	Both	BP≥ 160/110	Included	Must have one in the previous 3 months	Excluded	Excluded
EWPHE [39]	≥ 60	Both	DBP: 90–119 SBP: 160–239	Included	Included	Excluded	Excluded
Coope [42]	60 – 79	Both	DBP≥ 105 SBP≥ 170	Excluded	Excluded	Excluded	Excluded
MRC – O [29]	65 – 75	Both	DBP<115 SBP: 160–209	Included	Included	Excluded	Excluded
SHEP [41]	≥ 60	Both	DBP<90 SBP: 160–219	Excluded	Excluded	Excluded	Excluded
STOP [30]	70 – 84	Both	DBP: 90–120 SBP: 180–130	Included	Included	Included	Included

* We considered only these exclusion criteria because they are the most important factors influencing the base line risk in hypertensive people ** SPB: Systolic Blood Pressure; DBP: Diastolic Blood Pressure

ISSN: 1471-2458