Evidence map›Paper›PMID 17976291›Full record

ArticleThe British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners2007

Zero end-digit preference in recorded blood pressure and its impact on classification of patients for pharmacologic management in primary care - PREDICT-CVD-6.

Joanna Broad, Sue Wells, Roger Marshall, Rod Jackson

Abstract readMulticenter Study
In one paragraph

Article in The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 2007. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
17citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

17 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. A systematic review of glomerular hyperfiltration assessment and definition in the medical literature.Clinical journal of the American Society of Nephrology : CJASN · 2015
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Joanna BroadSection of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Population Health, University of Auckland, New Zealand. j.broad@auckland.ac.nz
Sue Wells
Roger Marshall
Rod Jackson

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundMost blood pressure recordings end with a zero end-digit despite guidelines recommending measurement to the nearest 2 mmHg. The impact of rounding on management of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk is unknown.

aimTo document the use of rounding to zero end-digit and assess its potential impact on eligibility for pharmacologic management of CVD risk. DESIGN OF STUDY: Cross-sectional study.

settingA total of 23,676 patients having opportunistic CVD risk assessment in primary care practices in New Zealand.

methodTo simulate rounding in practice, for patients with systolic blood pressures recorded without a zero end-digit, a second blood pressure measure was generated by arithmetically rounding to the nearest zero end-digit. A 10-year Framingham CVD risk score was estimated using actual and rounded blood pressures. Eligibility for pharmacologic treatment was then determined using the Joint British Societies' JBS2 and the British Hypertension Society BHS-IV guidelines based on actual and rounded blood pressure values.

resultsZero end-digits were recorded in 64% of systolic and 62% of diastolic blood pressures. When eligibility for drug treatment was based only on a Framingham 10year CVD risk threshold of 20% or more, rounding misclassified one in 41 of all those patients subject to this error. Under the two guidelines which use different combinations of CVD risk and blood pressure thresholds, one in 19 would be misclassified under JBS2 and one in 12 under the BHS-IV guidelines mostly towards increased treatment.

conclusionZero end-digit preference significantly increases a patient's likelihood of being classified as eligible for drug treatment. Guidelines that base treatment decisions primarily on absolute CVD risk are less susceptible to these errors.

Indexed as

AdolescentAdultAgedBlood PressureBlood Pressure DeterminationCardiovascular DiseasesCross-Sectional StudiesEvidence-Based MedicineFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedNew ZealandPractice Guidelines as TopicProfessional PracticeRisk Assessment

Identifiers

PMID17976291
PMCPMC2169314

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.