Pharmacologic Treatment of Hypertension in Adults Aged 60 Years or Older.

Abstract

Letters15 August 2017Pharmacologic Treatment of Hypertension in Adults Aged 60 Years or OlderDevan Kansagara, MD, MCR, Timothy J. Wilt, MD, MPH, Jennifer Frost, MD, and Amir Qaseem, MD, PhD, MHADevan Kansagara, MD, MCRFrom Portland Evidence-based Synthesis Program and Portland VA Medical Center, Portland, Oregon; Minneapolis VA Center for Chronic Disease Outcomes Research and University of Minnesota School of Medicine, Minneapolis, Minnesota; American Academy of Family Physicians, Leawood, Kansas; and American College of Physicians, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.Search for more papers by this author, Timothy J. Wilt, MD, MPHFrom Portland Evidence-based Synthesis Program and Portland VA Medical Center, Portland, Oregon; Minneapolis VA Center for Chronic Disease Outcomes Research and University of Minnesota School of Medicine, Minneapolis, Minnesota; American Academy of Family Physicians, Leawood, Kansas; and American College of Physicians, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.Search for more papers by this author, Jennifer Frost, MDFrom Portland Evidence-based Synthesis Program and Portland VA Medical Center, Portland, Oregon; Minneapolis VA Center for Chronic Disease Outcomes Research and University of Minnesota School of Medicine, Minneapolis, Minnesota; American Academy of Family Physicians, Leawood, Kansas; and American College of Physicians, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.Search for more papers by this author, and Amir Qaseem, MD, PhD, MHAFrom Portland Evidence-based Synthesis Program and Portland VA Medical Center, Portland, Oregon; Minneapolis VA Center for Chronic Disease Outcomes Research and University of Minnesota School of Medicine, Minneapolis, Minnesota; American Academy of Family Physicians, Leawood, Kansas; and American College of Physicians, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/L17-0286 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail IN RESPONSE:We thank Dr. Rabi and colleagues for their comments and careful review of the guideline (1) and accompanying systematic review (2). Clinical guidelines from the American College of Physicians and the American Academy of Family Physicians are based on the best available evidence (2) and meet the Guidelines International Network's and Institute of Medicine's standards for guidelines (3, 4). We wholeheartedly agree that there are important differences among the studies addressing hypertension treatment goals. Dr. Rabi and colleagues point out that blood pressure measurement techniques are 1 source of clinical heterogeneity among the studies, but many other differences ...