Distinguishing True Hypertension from White Coat Hypertension in Pregnant Jordanian Women

Our objective was to study the practices surrounding the use of ABPM to diagnose hypertension and white coat hypertension (WCH) in pregnant Jordanian women. Questionnaires were e-mailed to 311 physicians from Amman (the capital of Jordan) who was members of the Jordanian Medical Association. We received completed questionnaires from 104 obstetricians and 119 primary care physicians. A significantly high number of obstetricians (91.4%) and primary care physicians (90.7%) reported that they “almost always” or “often” attempt to differentiate WCH from true hypertension in pregnancy, with the most popular method being self (intermittent) blood pressure (BP) monitoring at home (81.7% of obstetricians and 71.5% of primary care physicians, P = 0.16). With regard to the use of ABPM, only a minority of all the physicians reported using ABPM, and the number of obstetricians was significantly lower than the number of primary care physicians (17.3% vs. 28.5%, P = 0.05). From the findings, we think that obstetrical care providers in Amman are aware of the importance of diagnosing WCH in pregnant women. Moreover, both obstetricians and primary care physicians have a strong preference for self BP monitoring rather than ABPM for BP monitoring.