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Detection of Hypertension

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Summary

The classical World Health Organization (WHO) definition of hypertension has recently been questioned. The criteria of the distribution curve, as well as the risk-related definition of hypertension, are being replaced by a more pragmatic definition based on the benefits of intervention, as demonstrated in recent large scale therapeutic trials.

Variability of blood pressure and the ‘doctor’s effect’ also reduce the value of casual blood pressure measurement in the detection of hypertension, which might in the future be based on ambulatory blood pressure monitoring.

Although systematic screening for hypertension is not particularly useful in developed countries, periodic surveys of the population will be needed to assess the situation of the detection and control of hypertension.

Early detection by the search for markers of hypertensive heredity remains a field where progress is slow.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Clinique Médicale, Hôpital Universitaire Saint-Pierre, University of Brussels, Brussels, Belgium

    J. C. Demanet

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  1. J. C. Demanet
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Demanet, J.C. Detection of Hypertension. Drugs 36 (Suppl 2), 11–17 (1988). https://doi.org/10.2165/00003495-198800362-00004

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.2165/00003495-198800362-00004

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