The majority of patients are in favor of, or indifferent to, the absence of blood pressure (BP) measurement in general practice, according to a study published in Family Practice. Jeromine Trefond, MD, and colleagues conducted a cross-sectional, quantitative observational study of patients via 492 self-questionnaires. In the absence of BP measurement, 60% of patients expressed indifferent or favorable feelings. Young age, male sex, low frequency of visits, and absence of pathology were linked with indifferent or favorable feelings in the absence of BP measurement in bivariate analysis. Patients’ psychiatric history and a history of high BP were linked with unfavorable feelings in a multivariable analysis. A susceptibility to having particularly favorable or unfavorable feelings could be related to a patient’s general practitioner (physician effect). “General practice could be more efficient by measuring BP better and less frequently,” the study authors wrote.
