PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Ferguson, Jeffrey H.
AU  - Shaar, Carl J.
TI  - The Effective Diagnosis And Treatment Of Hypertension By The Primary Care Physician: Impact Of Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring
AID  - 10.3122/jabfm.5.5.457
DP  - 1992 Sep 01
TA  - The Journal of the American Board of Family
                Practice
PG  - 457--465
VI  - 5
IP  - 5
4099  - http://www.jabfm.org/content/5/5/457.short
4100  - http://www.jabfm.org/content/5/5/457.full
SO  - J Am Board Fam Med1992 Sep 01; 5
AB  - 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.