Background: the clinical utility of the prehypertension label is questionable. We sought to estimate how often patients with prehypertension are being told about it by their primary care clinicians.
Methods: we conducted a cross-sectional study of adult patients visiting practices within the North Carolina Family Medicine Research Network in summer 2008. Non-hypertensive patients were asked whether a doctor or other health care provider had ever told them they had "prehypertension"; a subsample of patients with measured blood pressure (BP) in the prehypertension range was asked the same question.
Results: of 1008 non-hypertensive patients, 1.9% indicated being told they had prehypertension. Among a subsample of 102 patients with measured BP in the prehypertension range, 2.0% indicated being told they had prehypertension.
Conclusion: few patients who probably have prehypertension are being told about it by clinicians.