Aim: To evaluate the minimum-required indicators of quality of care in Hypertension Units at two levels of delivered care (secondary and tertiary) in Spain.
Methods: A total of 51 quality indicators were included (N) in order to evaluate: architectural resources (8), material resources (12 on devices and 22 on supportive services) and human resources (9), which were presented as a formulary to the head of the corresponding Hypertension Unit. As a measure of the indicator, the accomplishment (yes/no) was registered.
Results: Data from 61 participating centers were collected and included in the analysis: 42 (68,9%) centers of tertiary level and 19 (31,1%) of secondary level. The degree of compliance of the different quality indicators in the global sample is (range): architecture, 60%-100%; material resources, 83.3%-100% (devices); 57.4-100% auxiliary services; 51.7% with respect to human resources and 69-100% with respect to continuing education and the dedication of the personnel. As expected, the differences between care levels were observed mainly in the availability of auxiliary services.
Conclusions: The Hypertension Units in Spain comply with a series of structural indicators of care quality at an acceptable level. The degree of compliance in certain aspects of human resources, mainly percent of dedication, number and continuing education could be improved. The evaluation of these aspects of care quality could allow the Scientific Societies to define the recommendation in order to deliver the best quality of care in hypertension.