Defining the hemodynamic response of hypertensive and normotensive subjects through serial timed blood pressure readings in the clinic.

Background: Every third patient in the clinic is misdiagnosed due to white-coat phenomenon, necessitating needless and costly treatment. We aimed to study the hemodynamic response of the physician's visit on hypertensive and normotensive patients by investigating the trend of blood pressure (BP) before, during and 15 min after the physician-patient encounter.

Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted over a period of 8 months in the cardiology clinics at the Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi.

The Post Clinic Ambulatory Blood Pressure (PC-ABP) study correlates Post Clinic Blood Pressure (PCBP) with the gold standard Ambulatory Blood Pressure.

Objective: Our previous study showed that post-clinic blood pressure (BP) taken 15 min after a physician-patient encounter was the lowest reading in a routine clinic. We aimed to validate this reading with 24 h Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring (ABPM) readings. A cross-sectional study was conducted in the cardiology clinics at the Aga Khan University, Pakistan.

Are BP readings taken after a patient-physician encounter in a real-world clinic scenario the lowest of all the readings in a clinic visit.

Objective: To determine the difference in Blood Pressure (BP) readings taken before, during and after the clinic encounter.

Study Design: Descriptive study.

Place And Duration Of Study: Cardiology Clinic, The Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, from January to August 2013.