Why the study?
Does ambulatory blood pressure monitoring better predict mortality outcomes compared to clinic blood pressure measurement in patients referred for cardiovascular risk management?
Does ambulatory blood pressure monitoring better predict mortality outcomes compared to clinic blood pressure measurement in patients referred for cardiovascular risk management?
This study establishes the methodology for ascertaining mortality outcomes in a large Irish cohort to enable future comparisons of the predictive power of ambulatory versus clinic blood pressure monitoring.
Mortality outcomes tracked in this large Irish cohort; leaves open whether ambulatory blood pressure monitoring improves mortality prediction over clinic measurements.
BACKGROUND: Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) has proven to be a superior predictor of morbid events when compared to clinic or office blood pressure measurement (CBPM). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the predictive value of ABPM in a sample of 14 414 people referred for management of cardiovascular risk. METHODS: In this paper we describe the methodology required to examine mortality outcome in the absence of a national unique identifier. RESULTS: Using a computerized database of deaths we were able to establish that 1348 people had died by the end of the follow-up period (30 September 2002). Sixty-four percent of deaths were cardiovascular and in 207 subjects who had post-mortem examinations, 78% were cardiovascular. CONCLUSIONS: The accurate identification of the cause of death in a large population will allow comparison of the relative predictive power of APBM and CBPM in an Irish population.
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Dolan et al. (2003) studied this question.
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