General practitioners' knowledge of and attitudes to the management of hypertension in elderly patients.

Abstract

It appears that despite the publication of several sets of guidelines for the management of hypertension in elderly people, based on randomized controlled trials, there is still considerable variation in the knowledge and attitudes of general practitioners. However, compared with a previous survey in Leicestershire in 1991, the general practitioners in this study reported a lower blood pressure threshold for initiating treatment of elevated blood pressure in elderly patients, including those with isolated systolic hypertension, which may in part be attributed to the introduction of the guidelines.