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Variations in knowledge, awareness and treatment of hypertension and stroke risk by country income level
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  • Published on:
    A more complete description of the deficit in knowledge

    For the sake of completeness, the evaluation of the deficit in knowledge and awareness and treatment of hypertension (1) should include an inquiry about two issues that are fundamental to the relationship between hypertension and stroke. For those issues to be addressed, the questionnaire should include the following items:-
    (i)Did you ever have your blood pressure taken in both arms?
    (ii)When you commenced antihypertensive treatment did you and your doctor agree on a "goal" blood pressure?
    The rationale for those two lines of inquiry is the following:-
    According to one meta analysis(10 cohorts; 13,317 patients) interarm blood pressure difference > 15 mm Hg is associated with a significant Cox stratified adjusted hazard ratio for subsequent stroke(hazard ratio, 2.42: 95% Confidence Interval, 1.27-4.60; p < 0.01) (2).
    Furthermore, antihypertensive medication should be titrated against the higher of the two inter arm blood pressure measurements otherwise the patient will run the risk of suboptimal drug dosing and the risk of missed diagnosis of resistant hypertension.
    A mutually agreed "goal" blood pressure should be specified from the outset otherwise there will be a risk of insidious onset of "physician inertia" which could contribute to the subsequent development of stroke.
    Younger patients have the most o gain from an ambitious "goal " blood pressure which sets the target...

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    Conflict of Interest:
    None declared.