More than half of diabetic patients receiving care at an ophthalmology clinic had unrecognized or inadequately controlled hypertension in a prospective case series.Most of the patients believed their blood pressure to be adequately controlled.These results suggest that ophthalmology clinics can offer opportunities to screen for uncontrolled hypertension in adults with diabetes.
More than half of adults with diabetes had unrecognized or inadequately controlled hypertension detected during ophthalmology care, a prospective case series showed.
Among 172 patients, 91 had stage 2 hypertension and 18 met criteria for hypertensive crisis, as defined by clinical guidelines. The vast majority of the cohort had a prior diagnosis of hypertension, and 91% of those were receiving treatment for the condition. About 80% of the patients with diagnosed hypertension considered their blood pressure (BP) control good or excellent. Ultimately, 60% of the patients were advised to contact their primary care clinicians, and 12% required expedited follow-up.
The findings suggest that opportunistic blood pressure screening in ophthalmology clinics is feasible and may identify patients with actionable cardiovascular risk, reported Michael Cusick, MD, MHSA, of the University of Virginia School of Medicine in Charlottesville, and colleagues in JAMA Ophthalmology.
