Document Type
Article
Publication Date
7-4-2024
Abstract
An estimated 45% of adult Americans currently have high blood pressure (HBP). Effective blood pressure (BP) control is essential for preventing major adverse events from cardiovascular and other vascular-related diseases, such as chronic kidney disease, stroke and dementia. A large and growing number of medical professional societies, health care organizations, and governmental agencies have now endorsed a clinical practice guideline-based target for adequate control of HBP to a systolic BP of less than 130 mm Hg. However, adequate BP control to this goal has been recently estimated to be as low as 30%. The first and most important steps to guide effective BP control include accurate, standardized BP measurement and formal assessment of overall atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease risk. In addition to appropriate pharmacologic treatment, optimal BP management must also include multifaceted guideline-directed lifestyle modifications. High-quality evidence now supports effective uniform HBP control that is consistently achievable for most of people from diverse backgrounds. This can be accomplished through identification and prioritization of social determinants of health enabled by shared decision making that is delivered via team-based care. Such integrated approaches can have a substantial impact for simultaneously reducing several major modifiable atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease risk factors. Hence, moving the "Big Needle" of improved overall cardiovascular, kidney, and brain health of the US population must no longer be solely relegated to primary care and will require a major and coordinated reprioritization of capital and evidence-based human resource allocations by all health care stakeholder organizations.
Recommended Citation
Casey, Donald E.; Blood, Alexander J.; Persell, Stephen D.; Pohlman, Daniel; and Williamson, Jeff D., "What Constitutes Adequate Control of High Blood Pressure? Current Considerations" (2024). College of Population Health Faculty Papers. Paper 209.
https://jdc.jefferson.edu/healthpolicyfaculty/209
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Language
English
Included in
Cardiology Commons, Internal Medicine Commons, Public Health Commons
Comments
This article is the author's final published version in Mayo Clinic Proceedings: Innovations, Quality and Outcomes, Volume 8, Issue 4, August 2024, Pages 384-395.
The published version is available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mayocpiqo.2024.06.001. Copyright © 2024 THE AUTHORS.
Publication made possible in part by support from the Jefferson Open Access Fund