Rating outcomes by their relative importance can help focus attention on those outcomes that are considered most important for clinical decision making when making judgements regarding the overall quality of the evidence to support Using GRADE methodology, the Work Group rated each outcome on a 1-9 scale (7-9, critical for decision making; 4-6, important, but not critical, for decision making; and 1-3, of limited importance for decision making). Critical and important outcomes were included in the evidence review (see Outcomes); however, only outcomes judged to be critical were used to determine the overall quality of evidence (see Grading Recommendations). a. Population(s) Adult patients ( 18 years of age) with (management) or without (screening, primary prevention) HTN Including women of childbearing age, women with a history of preeclampsia, pregnant women, deployed Service Members, and patients with comorbidities (e.g., diabetes, CKD) Note: Although evidence on pregnant women was included in the search, no evidence in this population was identified in the evidence review; see the VA/DoD Clinical Practice Guideline for the Management of Pregnancy for additional information regarding HTN in Excluding children, adolescents, and patients with unusual causes of secondary HTN (e.g., pheochromocytoma, aldosteronism) b. 