The multi-centre, Australian clinical trial of a potential future ‘quadpill’ dose of four medications, termed Quadruple UltrA-low-dose tReatment for hypErTension (QUARTET), has demonstrated that a single pill containing ultra-low quadruple combination is much more effective than the traditional approach of starting with monotherapy (single drug).

 

The study funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council enrolled 591 participants with high blood pressure (BP) either in no treatment or  single therapy across 10 centres in Australia.

 

The primary outcome was the significantly reduced blood pressure in the group starting on the quadpill,  at 12 weeks. These differences were sustained, with blood pressure control still better with the quadpill approach compared to the standard approach at 12 months, and no differences in side effects.

 

“We aimed to test this new quadpill strategy against usual care in Australia; as is often seen in clinical trials, people in the comparison group got much better treatment than average. Nonetheless our new quadpill strategy was much better,” said the researchers.