Applications:
This is a copyrighted screening wheel with potential for widespread use in screening for high blood pressure in children.
Advantages:
The current method for determining if a child has elevated blood pressure is very cumbersome. It involves plotting a height percentile on a CDC growth chart and then looking at a complicated table for the systolic and diastolic blood pressure that corresponds with the percentile. The physician then has to recognize that less than 90% is normal and greater than 95% is elevated. This tool allows for easy determination of blood pressure based on height rather than height percentile, gives a value of SBP/DBP together and has a simple written reminder that normal is <90% and elevated is >= 95%. This makes it much more likely that pediatricians will recognize abnormal blood pressures when they are seen in the office.