Pediatric Hypertension: Are Pediatricians Following Guidelines?

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute recommends that children older than 3 years seen in the medical setting have their blood pressure (BP) measured. The authors aimed to determine whether BPs are measured at well-child visits and whether elevated readings are recognized. A retrospective chart review of 3- to 18-year-old children seen for well-child visits was performed. Age, sex, weight, height, BP, extremity measured, and type of intervention were collected. BP was measured in 777 of 805 patients (97%). BP was elevated in 158 patients (20%). A total of 95 patients (60%) did not receive any intervention. Not recognizing elevated BP was associated with increased daily patient load (17.9±6.5 vs 12.6±5.5, P=.001). Higher body mass index was associated with elevated BP (P=.0008) but was not associated with improved recognition. Findings show that BP is almost always measured at well-child visits but is not being measured appropriately, and general pediatric clinics are not consistently following BP management recommendations.