Impact of COVID-19 on recorded blood pressure screening and hypertension management in England: An analysis of monthly changes in Quality and Outcomes Framework indicators in OpenSAFELY

Background Cardiovascular disease management in primary care in England was disrupted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Objective To describe the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on blood pressure screening and hypertension management, based upon a national quality of care scheme (Quality and Outcomes Framework, QOF) across key demographic, regional, and clinical subgroups. To this end, we translated complex clinical quality of care schemes from text descriptions into reusable analytic code. Methods With the approval of NHS England, a population based cohort study was conducted on 25.2 million patient records in situ using OpenSAFELY-TPP. We included all NHS patients registered at general practices using TPP software between March 2019 and March 2023. Individuals that were eligible for blood pressure screening and with a diagnosis of hypertension were identified according to the QOF 2021/22 business rules. We examined monthly changes in recorded blood pressure screening in the preceding 5 years in patients aged ≥ 45, recorded hypertension prevalence, and the recorded percentage of patients treated to target (i.e., ≤ 140/90 mmHg for patients ≤ 79 years and ≤ 150/90 mmHg for patients ≥ 80 years) in the preceding 12 months, within demographic, regional, and clinical subgroups as well as the variation across practices. Results The overall percentage of patients aged ≥ 45 who had blood pressure screening recorded in the preceding 5 years decreased from 90% in March 2019 to 85% in March 2023. Recorded hypertension prevalence was relatively stable at 15% throughout the study period. The percentage of patients with a record of hypertension treated to target in the preceding 12 months reduced from a maximum of 71% in March 2020 to a minimum of 47% in February 2021 in patients aged ≤ 79 years, and from 85% in March 2020 to a minimum of 58% in February 2021 in patients aged ≥ 80 years before recovering. Blood pressure screening rates in the preceding 5 years remained stable in older age groups, patients with a record of learning disability, or care home status. Conclusions There was substantial disruption to hypertension management QOF indicators during the pandemic, which can likely be attributed to a general reduction of blood pressure measurement including screening. OpenSAFELY can be used to continuously monitor monthly changes in national quality of care schemes to identify changes in key clinical subgroups early and support prioritisation of recovery from disrupted care caused by COVID-19. ### Competing Interest Statement B.G. has received research funding from the Laura and John Arnold Foundation, the NHS National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), the NIHR School of Primary Care Research, the NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, the Mohn-Westlake Foundation, NIHR Applied Research Collaboration Oxford and Thames Valley, the Wellcome Trust, the Good Thinking Foundation, Health Data Research UK, the Health Foundation, the World Health Organisation, UKRI, Asthma UK, the British Lung Foundation, and the Longitudinal Health and Wellbeing strand of the National Core Studies programme; he also receives personal income from speaking and writing for lay audiences on the misuse of science. ### Clinical Protocols ### Funding Statement This work was jointly funded by UKRI, NIHR and Asthma UK-BLF [COV0076; MR/V015737/] and the Longitudinal Health and Wellbeing strand of the National Core Studies programme. The OpenSAFELY data science platform is funded by the Wellcome Trust. B.G.'s work on better use of data in healthcare more broadly is currently funded in part by: the Wellcome Trust, NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, NIHR Applied Research Collaboration Oxford and Thames Valley, the Mohn-Westlake Foundation; all DataLab staff are supported by B.G.'s grants on this work. B.M.K. is also employed by NHS England working on medicines policy and clinical lead for primary care medicines data. R.J.M is supported by NIHR Oxford and Thames Valley Applied Research Consortium and is an NIHR Senior Investigator. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NIHR, NHS England, Public Health England or the Department of Health and Social Care. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NIHR, NHS England, Public Health England or the Department of Health and Social Care. Funders had no role in the study design, collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; and in the decision to submit the article for publication. ### Author Declarations I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained. Yes The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below: This study was approved by the Health Research Authority (REC reference 20/LO/0651) and by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine Ethics Board (reference 21863). I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals. Yes I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance). Yes I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines, such as any relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material, if applicable. Yes All data were linked, stored and analysed securely within the OpenSAFELY platform (). Data include pseudonymised data such as coded diagnoses, drugs, and physiological parameters. No free text data were included. All code is shared openly for review and reuse under MIT open license ( and ). Detailed pseudonymised patient data are potentially reidentifiable and therefore not shared.