Kelly Chiang

Cortico Health
2 Nov, 2021

How Cortico can Help with White Coat Syndrome

4 ways to prevent distorted medical readings.

White-coat-syndrome.jpg

How Cortico can Help with White Coat Syndrome

Supreet, a MOA who works at a geriatric clinic (also a past guest on our podcast) shared with us “we used to hurry and take blood pressure for patients before the doctor arrived in the room, because we noticed the blood pressure readings were much higher if measured with the doctor in the room.”

Visiting a doctor’s office has always been a nerve-wracking matter for some patients. Even a sixth-month-old baby arriving at the clinic for their third polio shot may sense this environment is potentially correlated to serious pain and begin to cry. The truth is, some of us still feel uneasy when visiting the clinic. But did you ever imagine this feeling could affect your physical assessment?

A study shows 36% of patients whose blood pressure is measured by, or in front of, a doctor show erroneous blood pressure readings (De la Sierra et al., 2017)? This phenomenon is called White Coat Syndrome (WCS) or also known as White Coat Hypertension (Huang et al., 2017). In short, when a patient’s blood pressure is measured in the presence of a doctor, the blood pressure reading is higher compared to a blood pressure reading without the presence of a doctor (Grassi et al., 2021).

Patients who feel unsettled at the doctor’s office could present with drastically changed heart rate and blood pressure readings as a result. Should we ask doctors to wear pink coats instead of white coats? It’s not the appearance of the environment that creates this stress, but rather many different factors that feed into tension for patients.

Here are four ways to prevent stressful situations that may tie patients into distorted medical readings:

1. Seek medical attention from the comfort of your home.

Being in a clinic can be stressful, so why not take your visit home! Speaking to a healthcare professional can be done in a <u>more relaxed state</u> through a virtual appointment because:

  • Patients are in a familiar environment and can avoid the traditional clinic environment (e.g. phone ringing, coughing)
  • Patients’ family members can be there with them for moral support

2. Meet your doctor safely during COVID-19.

Patients do not need to worry about whether the person next to them is vaccinated or not. By seeing a doctor virtually, they can also avoid the crowding and space limits of a clinic as long as their needed medical assessments can be offered online.

3. Prevent other stress-inducing situations.

Virtual health not only prevents WCS, but other stressful situations related to visiting a clinic as well. Wave goodbye to experiences like driving towards the clinic during rush hour and spending lengthy time in the waiting area.

4. For visits that are not possible online.

Ask an MOA or an allied healthcare professional to measure your blood pressure. Many MOAs are aware of WCS and are trained to guide patients through the process as comfortably for the patient as possible.

Some patients are still skeptical about the effectiveness of virtual visits compared to in-clinic visits. So Cortico offers features which enhance the quality of those visits too:

  1. Secure messaging system- Doctors can send documents, such as prescriptions securely to patients during their virtual appointment
  2. Unique URL- Virtual rooms are set-up with an one-of-a-kind link which means the room will only be accessible by the designated patient and doctor and no one else.
  3. Upload photos- Patients can send photos to show their doctors in advance through the patient portal. Doctors can also request a photo from patients to gather more information prior to the appointment.

Even though there are still limits to virtual visits compared to in-clinic visits, Cortico strives to offer features where both patients and doctors can communicate as closely as an in-clinic visit, one day.

Check out Our Telemedicine Page to learn more on what Cortico’s telemedicine has to offer!

References:
De la Sierra A, Vinyoles E, Banegas JR, Segura J, Gorostidi M, de la Cruz JJ, Ruilope LM. Prevalence and clinical characteristics of white-coat hypertension based on different definition criteria in untreated and treated patients. J Hypertens. 2017 Dec;35(12):2388-2394. doi: 10.1097/HJH.0000000000001493. PMID: 28723880.

Grassi G, Quarti-Trevano F, Seravalle G, Dell’Oro R, Vanoli J, Perseghin G, Mancia G. Sympathetic Neural Mechanisms Underlying Attended and Unattended Blood Pressure Measurement. Hypertension. 2021 Sep;78(4):1126-1133. doi: 10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.121.17657. Epub 2021 Aug 9. PMID: 34365811.

Huang, Y., Huang, W., Mai, W., Cai, X., An, D., Liu, Z., Huang, H., Zeng, J., Hu, Y., & Xu, D. (2017). White-coat hypertension is a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases and total mortality. Journal of hypertension, 35(4), 677–688. https://doi.org/10.1097/HJH.0000000000001226

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Book a 30-minute demo with our team to learn how Cortico can transform your medical practice.

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