Adherence of primary care physicians to recommended guidelines for blood pressure measurement

Abstract

Purpose: Accurate blood pressure measurement (BPM) is the main point for the proper diagnosis and management of hypertension. In this paper, we aim to assess the approaches taken by family physicians (FPs) about BPM and blood pressure measurement devices’ (BPMDs) standards. Materials and Methods: A survey was prepared in accordance with the current hypertension guidelines to assess the knowledge and awareness of FPs about BPM methods and BPMDs’ standards. Questionnaires were filled out face-to-face with family physicians. Results: In total, 300 of 412 local FPs were included in this study. Office BPMs were preferred by 41.7% of physicians, whereas 42.7% expressed their preference for HBPMs for hypertension diagnosis and treatment. Aneroid devices were chosen by 61.3% of FPs who believed that their knowledge and skills about BPM were excellent. The rate of FPs who preferred devices not compatible with one of the recommended devices in the guidelines was 79.7%. A total of 53% of FPs recommended upper arm automatic BPMDs to their patients and only 25% of FPs recommended BPMDs proved by clinical studies. Conclusion: We concluded that the awareness, knowledge, and routine daily practice of FPs in Mersin regarding BPM and BPMDs are poor and need to be improved. The results of this study may help us to question the approaches of FPs to hypertensive patients and may improve HT management.

Keywords

• hypertension
• blood pressure measurement device
• home blood pressure
• family physicians
• hipertansiyon
• kan basıncı ölçüm cihazı
• evde kan basıncı