Background:
JAMA 2014 blood pressure (BP) guidelines raised BP goals for adults older than 60 years (from <140/90 to <150/90) and adults with chronic kidney disease (CKD) or diabetes (from < 130/80 to <140/90). It is unknown whether there were changes in BP control at the health system level after guideline publication.
Methods:
Using data from 288,962 adults receiving primary care in the Geisinger Health System, we compared blood pressure control over 1-year time periods before and after the February 2014 publication of the JAMA 2014 BP guidelines (i.e. Aug 2012-July 2013 vs Aug 2014-July 2015). Mixed effects models were used, allowing intercepts to vary by individual, adjusted for age, gender, and race.
Results:
Mean age was 49.2 ± 18.3 y, 56.7% were female, and 2.5% were black. Prevalence of diagnoses for hypertension, diabetes, and CKD were 40.0%, 15.1%, and 11.4%, respectively. Overall, distributions of systolic BP were similar before and after JAMA 2014 BP guidelines (Figure). BP control <140/90 was also similar between the two periods for adults 18-59 y (90.9% vs. 90.3%; OR 1.01, 95% CI: 0.99-1.02; p=0.3), adults ≥ 60 y (81.8% vs 82.2%; OR 1.01, 95% CI: 1.00-1.03; p=0.05), and adults with diabetes (83.2% vs. 82.7%; OR 1.00, 95% CI: 0.99-1.02; p=0.7) whereas BP control <140/90 improved slightly for adults with CKD (81.7% vs. 82.1%; OR 1.06, 95% CI: 1.04-1.08; p<0.001). BP control <130/80 was marginally worse after JAMA 2014 BP guidelines in patients with diabetes (53.5% vs. 51.8%; OR 0.98, 95% CI: 0.96-0.99; p=0.01). Trends were similar in analyses only including patients with hypertension diagnoses (overall 78.6% vs. 78.2%, OR 1.00, 95% CI: 0.99-1.02; p=0.5), and when using a goal of < 130/80 for patients with CKD (53.3% vs. 53.5%; OR 1.06, 95% CI: 1.04-1.08; p<0.001).
Conclusion:
There was little change in blood pressure control in a large integrated health system after publication of the JAMA 2014 BP guidelines. These findings are reassuring given recent findings from the SPRINT trial supporting lower BP goals.
BLOOD PRESSURE CONTROL BEFORE AND AFTER ADOPTION OF ACC/AHA 2017 BLOOD PRESSURE GUIDELINES