Blood pressure testing in people under 35 often misdiagnosed

Doctors who routinely measure blood pressure in people under 35 are more likely to misdiagnose than to detect hypertension correctly, according to a study in this week's BMJ. This could lead to unnecessary lifelong treatment for many.

Blood pressure naturally varies a great deal from day to day. British guidelines currently recommend that doctors check all their patients' blood pressures but because of the natural variation, it is frequently overestimated or underestimated. This means that hypertension may be overdiagnosed.

Dr Tom Marshall, a public health expert at Birmingham University, calculated how often hypertension would be diagnosed in over 13,000 people. He then calculated how many were truly hypertensive. He found that routine measurement of blood pressure in people under 35 is more likely to misdiagnose than to diagnose it correctly.

Young adults are at low risk of heart disease and therefore benefit little from treatment. But misdiagnosis could mean a lifetime on medication.

Doctors should diagnose hypertension with caution in young adults, taking the average of many measurements or even using a higher threshold, he concludes.

Click here to view paper: http://press.psprings.co.uk/bmj/april/gp933.pdf

Comments

The opinions expressed here are the views of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of News Medical.
Post a new comment
Post

While we only use edited and approved content for Azthena answers, it may on occasions provide incorrect responses. Please confirm any data provided with the related suppliers or authors. We do not provide medical advice, if you search for medical information you must always consult a medical professional before acting on any information provided.

Your questions, but not your email details will be shared with OpenAI and retained for 30 days in accordance with their privacy principles.

Please do not ask questions that use sensitive or confidential information.

Read the full Terms & Conditions.

You might also like...
Klick Labs unveils voice technology for detecting hypertension with high accuracy