In January 2013, the guideline was submitted for external peer review by NHLBI to 20 reviewers, all of whom had expertise in hypertension, and to 16 federal agencies.
Reviewers also had expertise in cardiology, nephrology, primary care, pharmacology, research (including clinical trials), biostatistics, and other important related fields. Sixteen individual reviewers and 5 federal agencies responded.
Reviewers’ comments were collected, collated, and anonymized. Comments were reviewed and discussed by the panel from March through June 2013 and incorporated into a revised document. (Reviewers’ comments and suggestions, and responses and disposition by the panel are available on request from the authors.)