Blood pressure measurement in different outpatient clinics.

The objective of this study is to investigate how blood pressure is measured in different outpatient clinics. This is a retrospective study performed with 1,000 patients, randomly selected among patients followed in different outpatient clinics in Fortaleza, Brazil. Among the 1,000 patients, 962 had available records. The older the patient, the greater the possibility of having had blood pressure measured. In subsequent visits, blood pressure was measured more often than in the first visits. Blood pressure was measured more often among patients with chronic disease. The specialty with the highest proportion of blood pressure measurement was cardiology (85%). At the surgery, dermatology and traumatology clinics, blood pressure was measured in less than 5% of visits, and at the ophthalmology, sexually transmitted diseases, psychiatry, proctology and otolaryngology clinics, blood pressure was not measured in any visit. Cardiology, endocrinology, nephrology, geriatrics and internal medicine were the specialties where blood pressure was more frequently measured. It is important to measure blood pressure in any medical specialty in order to give early diagnosis of hypertension and provide adequate blood pressure control.