Why the study?
Twenty-four-hour ABPM is guideline-recommended for white coat HTN but is poorly utilized and largely restricted to subspecialty clinics, leaving its feasibility and utility in primary care unclear.
Does 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) improve the diagnosis and management of suspected white coat hypertension in a primary care setting?
Does 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) improve the diagnosis and management of suspected white coat hypertension in a primary care setting?
Implementing 24-hour ABPM in primary care is feasible and effectively identifies a high proportion of true persistent hypertension among patients suspected of white coat hypertension, leading to actionable changes in clinical management.
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
ABPM may refine suspected white coat hypertension diagnosis in primary care; hypothesis-generating and requires randomized confirmation before practice change.
Objectives: Twenty-four-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) is recommended in patients with white coat hypertension (HTN) by national guideline, but was poorly utilized, and is available only in very limited subspecialty clinics. We aim to examine the feasibility and utility of ABPM in a primary care setting in the diagnosis and management of white coat HTN including the implementation and modification of antihypertensive therapy. Methods: Patients who have elevated blood pressure in clinic office but normal blood pressure readings at home are eligible for 24-h ambulatory BP monitoring. We analyzed data from patients who were suspected to have white coat HTN in the last 2 years underwent ABPM in our practice. Results: Among 68 patients, 54 patients met the selection criteria. ABPM showed that 13 patients had normal BP (24%), while 41 patients (76%) had persistent HTN. Among these patients with persistent HTN, 28 patients had intervention including 24 patients prescribed with new anti-hypertensive medication or medication increase, 3 patients prescribed with additional lifestyle modification and one started CPAP.13 patients with slightly elevated BP (133/77 for average daytime BP) didn’t have medication adjustment. Conclusion: ABPM has substantial utility in the diagnosis and management of white coat HTN in a primary care setting.
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Zhu et al. (2022) studied this question.
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