A qualitative study on the practicality of guideline recommended office blood pressure measurement in primary care.

BACKGROUND AND

OBJECTIVES

For accuracy, clinic blood pressure (BP) must be measured using a standardised, guideline-recommended protocol. Practicality of this has not been examined, which was the aim of this study.

METHOD: Across Tasmania, Australia, 16 co-design workshops were undertaken with primary care health professionals who perform BP measurement (n = 63) and community members (n = 47). Workshops discussed whether the guideline-recommended BP measurement protocol was adhered to.

RESULTS

There was awareness among health professionals of the recommended way to measure BP. However, none reported measuring BP strictly according to the protocol, instead advising this was not practical. The most common reasons given for this were time constraints and competing clinical priorities. Community members reported never having received protocol-driven BP measurements from a health professional, also citing perceived time constraint as a reason.

DISCUSSION: The guideline-recommended protocol for measuring BP is seen as impractical for health professionals to undertake in routine primary care.