title: Blood pressure control and awareness among patients with diabetes and hypertension attending a tertiary ophthalmic clinic.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the proportion of patients who had diabetes and hypertension with optimal blood pressure (BP) control and to describe patients' awareness of the importance of BP control.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional survey of out-patients with diabetes who attended the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital (Melbourne, Australia) was conducted between October 2006 and February 2007. Of 245 patients invited, 220 (90%) participated. Optimal BP control was defined as BP < 130/80 mmHg recorded at the latest visit; proportions of patients with awareness of BP control were defined non-exclusively by: (i) ability to recall a previous BP record and rate the appropriateness of that BP level; (ii) ability to recall the recommended optimal BP control level by current diabetes management guidelines; (iii) knowledge that optimal BP control is important to diabetes management; and (iv) knowledge that optimal BP control is important to eye health.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 220 patients, 176 had both diabetes and hypertension. Of these, 49 of 176 (28%) had BP controlled optimally, and 30 of 176 (17%) recalled and rated a previous recorded BP level appropriately. Fewer than one in four (22%) acknowledged the recommended optimum BP level of < 130/80 mmHg, fewer than one in two (48%) rated BP as important to diabetes management, and one in three (35%) rated BP control as important to eye health.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this sample of patients with diabetes and hypertension, fewer than one-third achieved the BP level recommended by clinical guidelines, and fewer than half were aware of the importance of BP control.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Eye Research Australia, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: S S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lamoureux
authors.forename: T Y
authors.initials: TY
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tikellis
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Harper
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001315:Australia; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D001795:Blood Pressure Determination / Q000379:methods; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000523:psychology*; D003925:Diabetic Angiopathies / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology; D003930:Diabetic Retinopathy / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000150:complications* / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D010044:Outpatient Clinics, Hospital; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires