Measuring blood pressure for decision making and quality reporting: where and how many measures?

dc.contributor.author

Powers, Benjamin J

dc.contributor.author

Olsen, Maren K

dc.contributor.author

Smith, Valerie A

dc.contributor.author

Woolson, Robert F

dc.contributor.author

Bosworth, Hayden B

dc.contributor.author

Oddone, Eugene Z

dc.date.accessioned

2024-02-01T20:06:47Z

dc.date.available

2024-02-01T20:06:47Z

dc.date.issued

2011-06

dc.description.abstract

Background

The optimal setting and number of blood pressure (BP) measurements that should be used for clinical decision making and quality reporting are uncertain.

Objective

To compare strategies for home or clinic BP measurement and their effect on classifying patients as having BP that was in or out of control.

Design

Secondary analysis of a randomized, controlled trial of strategies to improve hypertension management. (ClinicalTrials.gov registration number: NCT00237692)

Setting

Primary care clinics affiliated with the Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

Patients

444 veterans with hypertension followed for 18 months.

Measurements

Blood pressure was measured repeatedly by using 3 methods: standardized research BP measurements at 6-month intervals; clinic BP measurements obtained during outpatient visits; and home BP measurements using a monitor that transmitted measurements electronically.

Results

Patients provided 111,181 systolic BP (SBP) measurements (3218 research, 7121 clinic, and 100,842 home measurements) over 18 months. Systolic BP control rates at baseline (mean SBP<140 mm Hg for clinic or research measurement; <135 mm Hg for home measurement) varied substantially, with 28% classified as in control by clinic measurement, 47% by home measurement, and 68% by research measurement. Short-term variability was large and similar across all 3 methods of measurement, with a mean within-patient coefficient of variation of 10% (range, 1% to 24%). Patients could not be classified as having BP that was in or out of control with 80% certainty on the basis of a single clinic SBP measurement from 120 mm Hg to 157 mm Hg. The effect of within-patient variability could be greatly reduced by averaging several measurements, with most benefit accrued at 5 to 6 measurements.

Limitation

The sample was mostly men with a long-standing history of hypertension and was selected on the basis of previous poor BP control.

Conclusion

Physicians who want to have 80% or more certainty that they are correctly classifying patients' BP control should use the average of several measurements. Hypertension quality metrics based on a single clinic measurement potentially misclassify a large proportion of patients.

Primary funding source

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Health Services Research and Development Service.
dc.identifier

154/12/781

dc.identifier.issn

0003-4819

dc.identifier.issn

1539-3704

dc.identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/10161/30096

dc.language

eng

dc.publisher

American College of Physicians

dc.relation.ispartof

Annals of internal medicine

dc.relation.isversionof

10.7326/0003-4819-154-12-201106210-00005

dc.rights.uri

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0

dc.subject

Humans

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Hypertension

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Blood Pressure Determination

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Blood Pressure Monitoring, Ambulatory

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Probability

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Follow-Up Studies

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Blood Pressure

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Aged

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Middle Aged

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Quality Assurance, Health Care

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Female

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Male

dc.title

Measuring blood pressure for decision making and quality reporting: where and how many measures?

dc.type

Journal article

duke.contributor.orcid

Olsen, Maren K|0000-0002-9540-2103

duke.contributor.orcid

Smith, Valerie A|0000-0001-5170-9819

duke.contributor.orcid

Bosworth, Hayden B|0000-0001-6188-9825

pubs.begin-page

781

pubs.end-page

788

pubs.issue

12

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Duke

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School of Medicine

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Faculty

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Basic Science Departments

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Clinical Science Departments

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Institutes and Centers

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Biostatistics & Bioinformatics

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Medicine

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Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences

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Medicine, General Internal Medicine

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Duke Cancer Institute

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Duke Clinical Research Institute

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Institutes and Provost's Academic Units

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Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development

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Initiatives

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Duke Science & Society

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Population Health Sciences

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Duke Innovation & Entrepreneurship

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Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Behavioral Medicine & Neurosciences

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Duke - Margolis Center For Health Policy

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Biostatistics & Bioinformatics, Division of Biostatistics

pubs.publication-status

Published

pubs.volume

154

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