Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of hypertensive patients, stratified by number of laboratory tests received within first year of diagnosis
| Variables a | No testing | Testing (1 panel) | Testing (2 panels) | Testing (3 or 4 panels) | Any testing (≥1 panel) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 57 974 | 8240 | 36 100 | 122 982 | 167 322 |
| Male — no. (%) | 34 430 (59.4) | 4536 (55.0) | 18 634 (51.6) | 68 804 (55.9) | 91 974 (55.0) |
| Age ≥ 65 — no. (%) | 8711 (15.0) | 1611 (19.6) | 10 005 (27.7) | 31 140 (25.3) | 42 756 (25.6) |
| Age — median (25‐75th percentiles) | 51.2 (42.5‐60.0) | 53.8 (45.4‐62.5) | 55.4 (45.6‐66.6) | 56.1 (47.5‐65.1) | 55.9 (47.0‐65.2) |
| Comorbidities—no. (%) | |||||
| Diabetes mellitus | 2076 (3.6) | 693 (8.4) | 3119 (8.6) | 18 041 (14.7) | 21 853 (13.1) |
| Chronic kidney disease | 385 (0.7) | 86 (1.0) | 1783 (4.9) | 4981 (4.1) | 6850 (4.1) |
| Congestive heart failure | 929 (1.6) | 177 (2.1) | 2854 (7.9) | 7166 (5.8) | 10 197 (6.1) |
| Coronary artery disease | 934 (1.6) | 219 (2.7) | 2112 (5.9) | 9155 (7.4) | 11 486 (6.9) |
| Stroke | 1295 (2.2) | 331 (4.0) | 2750 (7.6) | 7837 (6.4) | 10 918 (6.5) |
| Charlson index of 1 or 2 | 13 288 (22.9) | 2668 (32.4) | 12 421 (34.4) | 42 400 (34.5) | 57 489 (34.4) |
| Charlson index ≥ 3 | 1652 (2.8) | 535 (6.5) | 6550 (18.1) | 17 199 (14.0) | 24 284 (14.5) |
| Hospitalized for any reason within 1st year of diagnosis | 2904 (5.0) | 888 (10.8) | 13 086 (36.2) | 27 224 (22.1) | 41 198 (24.6) |
a
Comorbidities are based on physician and hospital billing codes.