First aid for hypertension: potentially lifesaving but neglected domain of emergency response
Abstract
Hypertension is highly prevalent and associated with increased morbidity and mortality. According to the world health organisation (WHO), globally, about 1.28 billion adults aged 30-79 years suffer from hypertension, and only 21% of them have the disease under control. Hypertension is a major cause of premature death worldwide. An estimated 7.5 million annual deaths are attributable to elevated blood pressure (BP). Many people die because of acute complications of hypertension, such as pulmonary oedema, stroke, myocardial infarction, and aortic dissection. Assurance of prompt recognition and adequate management of hypertensive urgencies and emergencies, therefore, constitutes an important public health concern.
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8. Birkun A. Coverage of disorders/conditions where first aid is recommended in guidelines/consensuses on first aid. Mendeley Data. 2024;V3.
9. Birkun A. Dataset of analysis of guidelines on hypertension management aimed at revealing the recommendations that could be applied to first aid settings. Mendeley Data. 2024;V1.
10. Grassi D, O'Flaherty M, Pellizzari M, Bendersky M, Rodriguez P, Turri D, et al. Hypertensive urgencies in the emergency department: evaluating blood pressure response to rest and to antihypertensive drugs with different profiles. J Clin Hypertens (Greenwich). 2008;10(9):662-7.
2. Zhou B, Perel P, Mensah GA, Ezzati M. Global epidemiology, health burden and effective interventions for elevated blood pressure and hypertension. Nat Rev Cardiol. 2021;18(11):785-802.
3. Oras P, Häbel H, Skoglund PH, Svensson P. Elevated blood pressure in the emergency department: a risk factor for incident cardiovascular disease. Hypertension. 2020;75(1):229-36.
4. McNaughton CD, Self WH, Zhu Y, Janke AT, Storrow AB, Levy P. Incidence of hypertension-related emergency department visits in the United States, 2006 to 2012. Am J Cardiol. 2015;116(11):1717-23.
5. Janke AT, McNaughton CD, Brody AM, Welch RD, Levy PD. Trends in the incidence of hypertensive emergencies in US emergency departments from 2006 to 2013. J Am Heart Assoc. 2016;5(12):e004511.
6. Pinna G, Pascale C, Fornengo P, Arras S, Piras C, Panzarasa P, et al. Hospital admissions for hypertensive crisis in the emergency departments: a large multicenter Italian study. PLoS One. 2014;9(4):e93542.
7. Singletary EM, Zideman DA, Bendall JC, Berry DC, Borra V, Carlson JN, et al. 2020 international consensus on first aid science with treatment recommendations. Circulation. 2020;142(16_suppl_1):S284-334.
8. Birkun A. Coverage of disorders/conditions where first aid is recommended in guidelines/consensuses on first aid. Mendeley Data. 2024;V3.
9. Birkun A. Dataset of analysis of guidelines on hypertension management aimed at revealing the recommendations that could be applied to first aid settings. Mendeley Data. 2024;V1.
10. Grassi D, O'Flaherty M, Pellizzari M, Bendersky M, Rodriguez P, Turri D, et al. Hypertensive urgencies in the emergency department: evaluating blood pressure response to rest and to antihypertensive drugs with different profiles. J Clin Hypertens (Greenwich). 2008;10(9):662-7.
| Files | ||
| Issue | In press | |
| Section | Letter to the editor | |
| Keywords | ||
| Blood Pressure Emergencies First Aid Hypertension Hypertensive Crisis | ||
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. |
How to Cite
1.
Birkun A. First aid for hypertension: potentially lifesaving but neglected domain of emergency response. Front Emerg Med. 2025;.
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