Clinician response after receipt of abnormal pediatric ambulatory blood pressure monitoring - characteristics associated with inertia and action.

BACKGROUND

Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring (ABPM) is recommended for diagnosis and management of hypertension. We aimed to identify characteristics associated with physician action after receipt of abnormal findings.

METHODS

This was a retrospective cross-sectional analysis of patients 5-22 years old who underwent 24-h ABPM between 2003-2022, met criteria for masked or ambulatory hypertension, and had a pediatric nephrology clinic visit within 2 weeks of ABPM. "Action" was defined as medication change/initiation, lifestyle or adherence counseling, evaluation ordered, or interpretation with no change. Characteristics of children with/without 1 or more actions were compared using Student t-tests and Chi-square. Regression analyses explored the independent association of patient characteristics with physician action.

RESULTS

115 patients with masked (n = 53) and ambulatory (n = 62) hypertension were included: mean age 13.0 years, 48% female, 38% Black race, 21% with chronic kidney disease, and 25% overweight/obesity. 97 (84%) encounters had a documented physician action. Medication change (52%), evaluation ordered (40%), and prescribed lifestyle change (35%) were the most common actions. Adherence counseling for medication and lifestyle recommendations were documented in 3% of encounters. 24-h, wake SBP load, and sleep DBP load were significantly higher among those with physician action. Patients with > 1 action had greater adiposity, SBP, and dipping. Neither age, obesity, nor kidney disease were independently associated with physician action.

CONCLUSIONS

While most abnormal ABPMs were acted upon, 16% did not have a documented action. Greater BP load was one of the few characteristics associated with physician action. Of potential actions, adherence counseling was underutilized.