Why Pediatric Hypertension Is Underdiagnosed and Untreated
Nearly half of adults with hypertension (HTN) are not aware of their diagnosis. But recognition is even worse in pediatric patients.Abbas H. Zaidi, MD“Less than 25% of children with hypertension get a diagnosis, and of those who get a diagnosis, 50% of those children are not receiving any intervention,” said Abbas H. Zaidi, MD, a pediatric cardiologist serving as the medical director of the outpatient cardiology department at Nemours Children’s Health in Wilmington, Delaware.Studies estimate that 3%-5% of kids suffer from the condition, which has been associated with cardiovascular and renal disease in adulthood.Zaidi wanted to get to the root of the problem. “Studies have focused on physician workflows and their challenges, but there’s not a lot of literature on what people think about th...