National Trends and Practice Patterns of Detection and Treatment of Hypertension During Ambulatory Visits in the United States

Using pre-existing data sets, this study will evaluate changes from 1994-2004 in the detection, diagnosis and treatment of hypertension and will identify contributors (clinical and non-clinical) to disparities in the detection and treatment of hypertension, looking at comorbidities, age, sex, race/ethnicity, medical insurance coverage and physician specialty. Statistical analyses will be performed to quantify the extent to which treatment goals were achieved with various classes of anti-hypertensive medications.

This study is a seed project for the Center on the Demography and Economics of Health and Aging.