Abstract
Background:
Blood pressure measurement is recommended in all medical evaluations, regardless of the specialty. It is a simple and easy-to-do procedure, but usually neglected or performed incorrectly.
Objectives:
To assess if blood pressure is being measured routinely and compare the values obtained in the usual ambulatory consultations to those obtained when following the adequate techniques.
Methods:
Cross-sectional and observational study that included adult (age >18 years) outpatients treated in clinical and surgical specialties of a teaching hospital. Subjects answered a specific questionnaire and then three blood pressure measurements were performed according to the current guidelines by trained research staff. After that, the patients had their appointments and at the end, the medical charts were checked to see if blood pressure was measured and, if so, the observed value was recorded.
Results:
We included 129 consecutive patients with a mean age of 53 years (± 15.92) predominantly females (61.2%). Most of the appointments occurred in clinical specialties (70.5%) and 49.6% reported themselves as hypertensive. Blood pressure was not measured in 38.8% of the patients, more frequently in surgical specialties (72,5% vs. 27,5%; p < 0,001). The previous diagnosis of hypertension did not influence the chance of a patient having his blood pressure measured (p = 0,082). There were no differences between the blood pressure measured by the researchers and those recorded at the medical charts (118 mmHg vs. 117 mmHg; p = 0,651; 72 mmHg vs. 75 mmHg; p = 0,055).
Conclusions:
The patients' blood pressure levels were not measured in many of the medical appointments, especially at outpatient clinics of surgical specialties.
Keywords:
Blood Pressure; Outpatient Service; Ambulatory Care; Hypertension; Physician's Offices