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ED visits for essential hypertension rose 25% from 2006 to 2011

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The number of patients visiting the ED for essential hypertension increased 25% from 2006 to 2011 in the United States, researchers reported at the American Heart Association’s High Blood Pressure Research Scientific Sessions.

During the study period, hospital admissions for patients with essential hypertension declined 15% and in-hospital mortality rates declined 36% among those admitted to the hospital.

“This shows we are not doing a good job in controlling high BP in the outpatient setting,” Sourabh Aggarwal, MD, chief resident in the department of internal medicine at Western Michigan University School of Medicine, Kalamazoo, Mich., said in a press release. “We need better high BP care in this setting.”

Sourabh Aggarwal

Aggarwal and colleagues extracted data from the Nationwide Emergency Department Sample for patients visiting the ED for essential hypertension (n=3,938,456) or hypertension with complications and secondary hypertension (n=1,429,308) from 2006 to 2011.

For patients visiting the ED for essential hypertension, the rate of visits increased from 190.1 per 100,000 persons in 2006 to 238.5 per 100,000 persons in 2011 (P<.01), Aggarwal and colleagues found.

The overall admission rate for patients with essential hypertension was 9.76%, but the admission rate dropped from 10.47% in 2006 to 8.85% in 2011 (P<.01).

For patients visiting the ED for hypertension with complications and secondary hypertension, the rate of visits increased from 71.2 per 100,000 persons in 2006 to 84.7 per 100,000 persons in 2011 (P<.01), the researchers found.

The overall admission rate for patients with hypertension with complications and secondary hypertension was 73.41%, but the admission rate dropped from 77.79% in 2006 to 68.75% in 2011 (P<.01).

For patients admitted to the hospital, in-hospital mortality declined from 1.95% in 2006 to 1.25% in 2011 (P<.05).

“The decrease in admissions and deaths may be due to emergency room and hospital physicians becoming more skilled at treating high BP,” Aggarwal said in the release. “But there is still a large unmet need for patients to have better help controlling their BP in the outpatient setting.”

For more information:

Aggarwal S. Abstract #241. Presented at: American Heart Association’s High Blood Pressure Research Scientific Sessions; Sept. 9-12, 2014; San Francisco.

Disclosure: Aggarwal reports no relevant financial disclosures.