Introduction: Hypertension (HTN) is the leading cause of mortality and disability in the world. In Argentina, almost 44% of hypertensives do not know about their condition and this may be due to the low rate of blood pressure (BP) measurements during the office visit. Our hypothesis is that the measurement and electronic recording of BP (BPMR) is not a routine practice in Argentina.
Objective: To describe the rate of office BP measurement in Argentina.
Methods: This is a retrospective, multicentre, point prevalence study. We analysed all office visits on 9/19/2019 at 9 medical institutions in 6 provinces of Argentina.
Results: Two thousand and eighty-two office visits were analysed. The patients' mean age was 52.1 years (18-103), 1790 (59.7%) were female, and 702 (36.1%) were hypertensives. BP was measured in 420 visits (14.1%; 95% CI 12.8-15.4). In a multivariate logistic regression model, history of HTN (OR 1.91, P<.001) and previous cardiovascular event (OR 1.76, P<.001) were associated with more odds of BPMR. The presence of cancer was associated with fewer odds of BPMR (OR .51, P<.01). Cardiology measured BP up to 49.5% (144/291 visits), followed by internal medicine 30% (152/507 visits).
Conclusion: BPMR during office visits is deficient in Argentina and represents a missed healthcare opportunity. Different strategies are needed to detect hypertensive patients and reduce cardiovascular events.
Keywords: Arterial hypertension; Blood pressure control; Blood pressure measurement; Conocimiento de presión arterial; Control de la presión; Hipertensión arterial; Inercia médica; Medical inertia; Medición de presión.
Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U.