Association between office visit intervals and long-term cardiovascular risk in hypertensive patients

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Public Health
• Clinical Medicine

Background:

• Hypertension management requires long-term patient follow-up, but optimal visit intervals remain undefined.
• Establishing appropriate visit frequencies is crucial for effective chronic disease management and resource allocation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between median visit intervals (MVIs) and the incidence of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) in hypertensive patients.
• To determine if longer follow-up intervals are associated with increased cardiovascular risk in a large cohort.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of data from 9894 hypertensive patients in the Korean Hypertension Cohort with over 10 years of follow-up.
• Patients were categorized into five groups based on MVIs (1, 2, 3, 4, and 6 months) over a 4-year period.
• Cox proportional hazards models were used to compare MACEs and all-cause death across different MVI groups.

Main Results:

• Longer visit interval groups (3-6 months) showed no increased cumulative incidence of MACEs compared to shorter intervals.
• The hazard ratio for MACEs or all-cause death decreased with longer MVIs, with the 6-month interval showing a significantly lower risk (HR: 0.64).
• A reference MVI group of 75-104 days was used for comparison in the Cox model.

Conclusions:

• Follow-up visits at longer intervals of 3-6 months are not linked to an elevated risk of MACEs or all-cause death in hypertensive patients.
• Once hypertension medication is stabilized, extending visit intervals to 3-6 months appears reasonable.
• This approach may reduce healthcare expenses without compromising cardiovascular outcomes.