Comparison of questionnaire responses regarding awareness of Japanese Society of Hypertension guidelines for the management of hypertension between 2014 and 2019 in primary care

In 2019, the Japanese Society of Hypertension guidelines for the management of hypertension (JSH) were revised. We previously reported the awareness of JSH among general practitioners in 2014, and in the current study, the same questionnaire was administered to determine their awareness of JSH 2019, and their responses were compared. We also sought to identify effective strategies to raise awareness of hypertension. The questionnaires included the same 12 questions as in 2014 and were mailed to members of two professional organizations from October to November 2019. Responses from 256 general practitioners in 2019 and 209 in 2014 were compared using the propensity score matching method to align the responders’ backgrounds. Component analysis was performed to classify responders into appropriate clusters. The matched cohort of all 202 responders was analyzed. In both 2014 and 2019, >80% of responders instructed patients to perform home blood pressure monitoring (JSH 2014: 81.7% and JSH 2019: 84.6% in the matched cohort), and >70% instructed patients with hypertension to restrict their salt intake (JSH 2014: 79.7% and JSH 2019: 74.7% in the matched cohort). Regarding the clinical blood pressure measurement method, more responders answered “one time outside the consulting room” in the JSH 2019 group (p = 0.042). Fewer general practitioners responded that differential diagnosis for primary aldosteronism was performed in the JSH 2019 group (p = 0.032); however, the frequency of checking the aldosterone-renin ratio increased in the JSH 2019 group (p = 0.055). We confirmed the change in general practitioners’ awareness of hypertension management. The categorized clusters may be useful for the development of effective strategies for higher-quality hypertension management in clinical practice.