SEQUENTIAL SCREENING FOR HYPERTENSION IN PRIMARY CARE

Plans are presented for the sequential screening of hypertension in primary care. The plans depend upon: (i) the number of stages k; (ii) the number of blood pressure readings per stage n; (iii) a threshold for true mean blood pressure gq1, above which pharmacological treatment is believed desirable; (iv) a threshold for true mean blood pressure gq0 below which pharmacological treatment is believed undesirable and (v) error probabilities associated with falsely classifying a person with mean blood pressure less than gq0. The plans are chosen to maximize the probability of correctly classifying a person with mean blood pressure greater than gq1. © 1979.