J Korean Acad Fam Med.  1997 Aug;18(8):793-801.

The management of hypertension by internists and family physicians in general hospital

• Baek SH
• Cho HJ

Abstract

BACKGROUND: This study was performed to determine and compare the practice patterns of management of hypertension of the internists and family physicians in general hospitals and to compare them according to the JNC V guidelines.
METHODS
Questionnaires were mailed to total 964 of internists and family physicians in general hospitals during May, 1996. 217 of them were returned with the response rate of 23.5%. Chi-square test and Fishers exact test were performed to examine the statistical difference between two groups.
RESULTS
The mean age of the respondents was 39.1 and 77.9% of them were male. 65.4 % of hospitals for respondents were located in metropolitan cities. Concerning the number of measurements of blood pressure, 0.5% of the respondents measured just once before confirmation of the diagnosis. Items for physical examinations for initial evaluation were as follows; cardiac auscultation(94.0%), measurements of body weight and height(58.9%), abdominal examination(52.8%), auscultation for carotid bruit(41.7%), fundoscopic examination (25.6%). Regarding the laboratory tests, the frequency of evaluation of all item were higher than that of the physical examinations. For initial drug therapy, calcium channel blockers and ACE inhibitors were the most frequently chosen mediations. No difference was found between two specialties or tertiary and secondary hospitals in this trend. With educations for the life-style modification, 60-80% of the respondents educated the patients. No difference was found between two specialties except one item.
CONCLUSIONS
As a whole the JNC V guidelines were not followed faithfully for the management of hypertension.

MeSH Terms

Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors
Auscultation
Blood Pressure
Body Weight
Calcium Channel Blockers
Surveys and Questionnaires
Diagnosis
Drug Therapy
Hospitals, General*
Humans
Hypertension*
Male
Physical Examination
Physicians, Family*
Postal Service
Surveys and Questionnaires
Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors
Calcium Channel Blockers