General practitioners' perception of hypertension.
As part of a study to determine the prevalence of microscopic haematuria in hypertensive patients, 12 doctors were asked to record pre-treatment levels of blood pressure. Analysis of 163 recordings of systolic and 192 recordings of diastolic pressure demonstrated: marked zero preference; point V, the point of disappearance of sounds, as the more commonly used diastolic end point; and marked clustering of diastolic readings at 110 mmHg. The last finding suggests that this reading accompanies the decision to treat.
D001795:Blood Pressure Determination; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000175:diagnosis; D010465:Perception; D010821:Physicians, Family / Q000523:psychology*