title: Arterial hypertension: a clinically relevant problem in physical medicine and rehabilitation?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Arterial hypertension is the most frequently observed vascular risk factor. Physical and rehabilitative interventions may affect arterial blood pressure. The frequency of hypertensive patients in an outpatient clinic of physical medicine is unknown.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective data collection.
  
  
  METHODS
  Overall, 3,826 patients admitted to the outpatient clinic for physical and rehabilitative interventions were included to assess arterial blood pressure, additional vascular risk factors, history of cardiovascular events and antihypertensive drug treatment.
  
  
  METHODS
  Arterial blood pressure was measured using an oscillometric method on the non-dominant arm. The patients were divided into sufficiently treated (< 140/90 mmHg, drug treatment), insufficiently treated (≥ 140/90 mmHg, drug treatment and history of hypertension) or de novo hypertensive patients (≥ 140/90 mmHg, no history of hypertension).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Arterial hypertension was observed in 48% of all patients (n = 1,840). In 719 (19%) of patients blood pressure above normal values. Due to significant hypertension 189 (5.2%) patients were either not permitted to start treatment or had to interrupt their physical treatment.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Insufficiently treated hypertension or previously undiagnosed hypertension is relatively common in a physical medicine clinic. We therefore recommend the implementation of arterial blood pressure measurement into the admission procedures in order to reduce such events.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical and Rehabilitative Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nuhr
authors.forename: Veronika
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Fialka-Moser
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Keilani
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Crevenna
authors.forename: Michael M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Hirschl
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001317:Austria; D001795:Blood Pressure Determination; D015992:Body Mass Index; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010045:Outpatients; D026741:Physical Therapy Modalities; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome