Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 Apr;98(16):e15093.
doi: 10.1097/MD.0000000000015093.

The frequency and determinants of blood pressure measurement by a health professional in Germany: A cross-sectional study

Claudia Diederichs  1   2 , Hannelore Neuhauser  1   2
Affiliations

The frequency and determinants of blood pressure measurement by a health professional in Germany: A cross-sectional study

Claudia Diederichs et al. Medicine (Baltimore). 2019 Apr.

Abstract

Strong evidence exists for the benefits of screening for hypertension to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and death. The aim of this study was to analyze the frequency and determinants of blood pressure (BP) measurement by a health professional in the general population and in individuals without hypertension in Germany.Data from 17,431 participants 15+ years from the cross-sectional GEDA2014/2015-EHIS survey were used to calculate the percentage of the population who had no BP measurement within the last year and the last 3 years. In multivariate models, the determinants of no BP measurement were analyzed. The frequency of BP measurement was compared between 30 European countries.In Germany, 27.5% of men and 16.6% of women had no BP measurement by a health professional within the last year and 10.9%, respectively 5.4% not within the last 3 years. In individuals without known hypertension, 34.1% of men and 23.6% of women aged 15 to 19 years had no BP measurement in the last 3 years compared to 5.2% of men and 4.8% of women 70+ years. Independent predictors of not receiving a BP measurement in the last 3 years besides age were male sex, good self-rated health, low health awareness, and no medical consultations but not educational level. Germany has low proportions of no BP measurement compared to other European countries.Hypertension screening needs improvement in all age groups, especially in the young who have the lowest screening proportions but also in the elderly who have the highest hypertension risk.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Percentage (% with 95%-CI) of men 15 + years without hypertension (n = 7446) who had no blood pressure measurement by a health professional within the last year or within the last 3 years (GEDA 2014/2015-EHIS data). CI = confidence interval, EHIS = European Health Interview Survey.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Percentage (% with 95%-CI) of women 15 + years without hypertension (n = 9895) who had no blood pressure measurement by a health professional within the last year or within the last 3 years (GEDA 2014/2015-EHIS data). CI = confidence interval, EHIS = European Health Interview Survey.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Factors associated with no blood pressure measurement within the last 3 years in individuals 15+ without hypertension (adjusted OR with 95%-CI) on the basis of GEDA 2014/2015-EHIS data. CI = confidence interval, EHIS = European Health Interview Survey, OR = odds ratio.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Percentage (%) of men 15+ years who had no blood pressure measurement by a health professional within the last year and the last 3 years in different European countries (EHIS data). EHIS = European Health Interview Survey.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Percentage (%) of women 15+ years who had no blood pressure measurement by a health professional within the last year and the last 3 years in different European countries (EHIS data). EHIS = European Health Interview Survey.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Barnett R. Case histories—hypertension. Lancet 2017;389:2365. - PubMed
    1. Lewington S, Clarke R, Qizilbash N, et al. Age-specific relevance of usual BP to vascular mortality: a meta-analysis of individual data for one million adults in 61 prospective studies. Lancet 2002;360:1903–13. - PubMed
    1. Forounzafar MH, Liu P, Roth GA. Global Burden of hypertension and systolic blood pressure of at least 110 to 115 mm Hg, 1990-2015. JAMA 2016;317:165–82. - PubMed
    1. Siu A on behalf of the US preventive services task force. Screening for high BP in adults: U.S. Preventive services task force recommendation statement. Ann Intern Med 2015;163:778–86. - PubMed
    1. Ettehad D, Emdin CA, Kiran A, et al. BP lowering for prevention of cardiovascular disease and death: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet 2016;387:957–67. - PubMed