title: Diagnosis, treatment, and referral of hypertension in an emergency department.
abstract: The authors prospectively audited 500 randomly selected charts of patients seen during a 6-month period ending in October 2008, in the emergency department of a university medical center for the prevalence of hypertension and how it was managed. Of the 187 patients with hypertension, 14 (8%) were treated for hypertension in the emergency department and 99 (53%) were hospitalized or referred to a physician or clinic for follow-up of their hypertension. Much improvement is needed, especially since many of the patients seen in the emergency department do not have a primary care physician.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, General Medicine and Cardiology Divisions, New York Medical College, Valhalla, NY 10595, USA.
authors.forename: Tushar
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shah
authors.forename: Wilbert S
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Aronow
authors.forename: Stephen J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Peterson
mesh_terms: D001794:Blood Pressure; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*