Detection of hypertension. Blood pressure determination in outpatient clinics of medical school-affiliated training programs.

We evaluated past medical records and conducted a hypertension screening program in the outpatient clinic of a university hospital, a community hospital, and a city hospital, with the aid of specially trained high school students under the direction of a cardiovascular nurse. Fifty-one percent of the adult black outpatients had elevations of arterial blood pressure; one half of these patients were aware of a history of hypertension. Analysis of the clinic records showed that many patients who had made multiple visits to the clinic had never had a blood pressure recorded in their charts. If progress is to be made in the detection of hypertension, blood pressures must be routinely determined. This should be incorporated into all clinic routines, particularly in clinics staffed by physicians-in-training.