GENERAL-PRACTICE BLOOD-PRESSURE RECORDING IN SCOTLAND - VARIATIONS INTHE CLASSIFICATION OF HYPERTENSION

A questionnaire concerning blood pressure assessment, as part of healt h promotion activity was circulated to all 770 Gpass practices in Scot land producing a 64.6% response rate. The results reveal a wide range in both the systolic and diastolic levels chosen to classify blood pre ssure as normal, borderline raised or raised. Practices are using a va riety of values to indicate hypertension when considering systolic and , to a lesser extent diastolic pressure. The variations found suggest that both over and under treatment are a significant risk to patients. The introduction of the 1993 health promotion regulations means that practices are required to actively target their practice population fo r blood pressure assessment and appropriate intervention. We suggest t hat this process will be enhanced if doctors are encouraged to adopt t he established guidelines for the classification of blood pressure or general practice computer software is adapted to offer blood pressure protocol support.