The JNC VII guideline was used to classify the stages of hypertension among the patients. Patients who were on antihypertensive medication with only one active ingredient were defined as receiving monotherapy; those taking two active ingredients in a combination pill were defined as receiving fixed dose combination (FDC) therapy and those who had been prescribed with two or more active ingredients were considered to be on polytherapy. The study protocol was approved by the Institutional Review Board and Ethics Committee of the hospital.
STATISTICAL ANALYSIS