PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Anthony J. Viera
AU  - Fatima Bangura
AU  - C. Madeline Mitchell
AU  - Ana Cerna
AU  - Philip Sloane
TI  - Do Clinicians Tell Patients They Have Prehypertension?
AID  - 10.3122/jabfm.2011.01.100206
DP  - 2011 Jan 01
TA  - The Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine
PG  - 117--118
VI  - 24
IP  - 1
4099  - http://www.jabfm.org/content/24/1/117.short
4100  - http://www.jabfm.org/content/24/1/117.full
SO  - J Am Board Fam Med2011 Jan 01; 24
AB  - Background: The clinical utility of the prehypertension label is questionable. We sought to estimate how often patients with prehypertension are being told about it by their primary care clinicians.Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study of adult patients visiting practices within the North Carolina Family Medicine Research Network in summer 2008. Non-hypertensive patients were asked whether a doctor or other health care provider had ever told them they had “prehypertension”; a subsample of patients with measured blood pressure (BP) in the prehypertension range was asked the same question.Results: Of 1008 non-hypertensive patients, 1.9% indicated being told they had prehypertension. Among a subsample of 102 patients with measured BP in the prehypertension range, 2.0% indicated being told they had prehypertension.Conclusion: Few patients who probably have prehypertension are being told about it by clinicians.