by PWeekly | Jun 26, 2012
New research was presented at the American Society of Hypertension’s 2012 Annual Scientific Meeting & Exposition from May 19-22, 2012 in New York City. The features below highlight just some of the studies that emerged from the conference. Exploring Clinical Inertia in Hypertension Control The Particulars: Therapeutic goals are unmet in many patients with hypertension. Previous research suggests that clinical inertia—failure to adjust medication regimens after uncontrolled hypertension is identified—may play an important role in this problem. Data Breakdown: Researchers analyzed 5 years of data to assess the association of patient and physician characteristics with clinical inertia incidence and continued uncontrolled hypertension. Among the 59% of patients who experienced clinical inertia, less than 2% of the variance in clinical inertia was attributable to physician characteristics. In patients, clinical inertia was associated with increased age, Hispanic/Latino ethnicity, obesity, and higher systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Take Home Pearls: Rates of clinical inertia in the treatment of hypertension appear to be high. Important patient characteristics are associated with clinical inertia and may be targets for future interventions. Gender Affects Hypertension Thresholds The Particulars: Current ambulatory blood pressure (BP) thresholds for diagnosing hypertension do not differ between genders. However, women tend to have lower ambulatory BPs than men. Data Breakdown: In a study, investigators assessed the role of gender on the diagnostic thresholds for awake and asleep BP averages based on cardiovascular disease (CVD) outcomes. The maximum combined sensitivity and specificity corresponded to threshold cutoff values of 135/85 mm Hg for awake BP and 120/70 mm Hg for asleep BP for men. In terms of CVD risk, the corresponding values in women...
by Physicians Weekly | Jun 12, 2012
Women with heart failure (HF) appear to have better survival than men irrespective of ejection fraction, according to a large meta-analysis. The mortality rate for women with HF was 25%, compared with 26% for men with HF, during 3 years of follow-up. In those with non-ischemic, compared with ischemic, disease, the better prognosis associated with female gender was more marked. Abstract: European Journal of Heart Failure, May...
