The Effective Diagnosis And Treatment Of Hypertension By The Primary Care Physician: Impact Of Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring

Abstract

Background: Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) has been described as an effective method for the diagnosis and formulation of the treatment of hypertension by the primary care physician.

Methods: Sixty patients selected from a suburban private primary care practice participated in a study that compared measurements of office blood pressures using a mercury sphygmomanometer with the same pressures recorded by ABPM.

Results: Blood pressures and blood pressure loads measured by ABPM were significantly lower than blood pressures and pressure loads recorded in the office setting.

Conclusions: Blood pressure recorded by ABPM differed from the same measurements made by office or casual sphygmomanometry. Use of ABPM changed diagnosis or treatment of hypertension in borderline and antihypertensive drug-treated patients. Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring is a useful tool for the diagnosis and treatment of hypertension by the primary care physician. It can be used to identify white-coat hypertension in various patient populations.