Postgraduate medical journal
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International guidelines recommend natriuretic peptide biomarker-based screening for patients at high heart failure (HF) risk to allow early detection. There have been few reports about the incorporation of screening procedure to existing clinical practice. ⋯ NT-proBNP and ECG screening could be implemented with relative ease to facilitate early detection of cardiovascular complication and improve long-term outcomes.
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A systematic review is conducted to identify effective interventions that improved adherence to antihypertensive drugs among patients with coronary heart diseases (CHDs). Primary studies designed to measure interventions to improve adherence on antihypertensive drugs in patients with CHD were included. Three online databases, COCHRANE, EMBASE and MEDLINE, were searched for primary studies published in English from 2005 to 2019. ⋯ The importance of the continuity of interventions was also established. It is recommended that health service institutions should provide continuous education programmes, daily reminders and regular follow-ups for their patients who have CHD. It is recommended that further research ought to be carried out by using only one intervention in each trial with a standardised outcome measure, or using factorial designs, so that further cost-effectiveness evaluation of each intervention can be carried out independently, leading to the formulation of a comprehensive, optimised intervention programme for patients with CHD taking antihypertensives.