This UK study aimed to assess the level of BP monitoring and control among adult (≥45 years) primary care patients with chronic conditions attending general practices and sought to determine the effect of social deprivation on these levels. Data were retrospectively obtained from 8515 general practices in year 1 (2005), 8264 in year 2 (2006), and 8192 in year 3 (2007), located in the least deprived and most deprived areas of England. The proportion of patients who had a BP recording in the least deprived areas increased from 83% in 2005 to 88% by 2007, and from 81% to 88% in the most deprived areas. An initial 1.7% gap observed in mean BP recording levels between practices in the least and most deprived areas had decreased to 0.2% by 2007. In 2005, target BP levels were achieved by 69% and 72% of hypertensives in least deprived versus most deprived areas; corresponding rates were 71% and 69% for diabetics, and 85% and 82%, respectively, for coronary heart disease (CHD) patients. By 2007 these rates had increased to 77% and 78% for hypertensives, 79% and 79% for diabetics, 89% and 88% for CHD patients in the least versus most deprived areas respectively. Similar improvements in achieving target BP levels were seen for cerebrovascular disease and chronic kidney disease.
