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Ambulatory blood pressure important for decision-making about treatment
Clinical Question
What is a better predictor of mortality: ambulatory or office-based measurement of blood pressure?
Bottom line
This study supports the guidelines recommending that treatment decisions be based on ambulatory blood pressure (BP) measurements rather than in-office BP results. The difference between the 2 measurements in this cohort was 19/11 mm Hg, which is enough to change the decision to prescribe a medication at all, or to add a second or third medication. 2b
Reference
Study design: Cohort (prospective)
Funding: Government
Setting: Population-based
Synopsis
How we measure things matters: For example, nonfasting lipid levels are a better predictor of mortality than fasting lipid levels. Recent guidelines for hypertension, including from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, have emphasized the need to confirm elevated BPs in most patients using some form of ambulatory BP monitoring. This study used data from a large Spanish hypertension registry to look at the association between clinic BPs, ambulatory blood BPs, and mortality. The registry includes adults with an indication for ambulatory BP monitoring, such as suspected white coat hypertension, borderline or labile hypertension, or hypertension refractory to treatment. The registry supplies data on clinic BPs, measured by automated devices after 5 minutes of seated rest, and 24-hour ambulatory BP measurements. These data were linked to national vital statistics databases to determine cardiovascular and all-cause mortality. The analysis was adjusted for comorbidities, age, sex, tobacco use, and body mass index. The mean age of patients was 58 years, 58% were male, and only 11% had a diagnosis of cardiovascular disease. During a median 4.7 year follow-up, there were a total of 3808 deaths including 1295 cardiovascular deaths. The mean ambulatory BP was 129/76, compared with 148/87 in the clinic. Recall, the clinic BPs were measured by an automated device after 5 minutes of rest, yet they were still far higher than the ambulatory measurements. In the fully adjusted model that adjusted for clinic BPs, the hazard ratio for all-cause mortality was 1.58 (95% CI 1.56 - 1.60) for the ambulatory systolic BP versus 1.02 (1.00 - 1.04) for the clinic systolic BP adjusted for ambulatory BP. A similar pattern was seen for diastolic BPs. The inflection point for an increase in both cardiovascular and all-cause mortality is at a systolic BP of 140 to 160. Mortality was not increased in patients with controlled hypertension, but was increased in those with both white-coat and masked (normal in clinic, abnormal at home) hypertension.
Reviewer
Mark H. Ebell, MD, MS
Professor
University of Georgia
Athens, GA
Comments
So few comments on this because it flies in the face of the present business model of care for Hypertensionn. People are afraid that their incomes will fade if they have to stop telling patients they are dying from hypertension borderline diabetes and hypercholesterolemia and the attendant incessant need to measure these by office visits.
Perhaps we should reset the criteria for the diagnosis of hypertension . The ' obstacle 'may be cost for the patient and the ambulatory requests will be overwhelming.
Very important topic. Hypertension is common and diagnosis is often not properly carried. Many patients are not monitored nor treated properly either.
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Agreed
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