Hypertension screening in a primary care clinic

A chart audit of 250 randomly selected adult patients at a university-based family practice unit showed that 91.9% had attended the clinic during a five-year period (89.0% for males and 94.5% for females). Overall, 80.6% of the patients had their blood pressure recorded on the office chart in the five-year period (75.3% for males and 85.0% for females). For males 30-39 years old, however, the rate was only 54.5%. Flow sheets are suggested as a practical method for recording health maintenance items in an effort for the primary care physician to follow the recommended guidelines for hypertension screening.