Abstract P183: Minimal Impact of JAMA 2014 Guidelines on Blood Pressure Control in a Large Health System

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.