Patients report reduced readings, better control, and improved care for hypertension
MONDAY, March 18 (HealthDay News) -- Compared with usual care, a pharmacist-led home blood pressure monitoring (HBPM) intervention called Heart360 results in greater blood pressure (BP) reductions, superior BP control, and higher patient satisfaction, according to research published online March 5 in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes.
In an effort to determine whether a pharmacist-led HBPM intervention improved BP compared with usual care, David J. Magid, M.D., M.P.H., of Kaiser Permanente in Denver, and colleagues conducted a randomized, controlled trial involving 348 patients with BP above recommended levels being treated at 10 Kaiser Permanente Colorado clinics.
After six months, significantly more patients in the HBPM group achieved the BP goal compared with those in the usual-care group (54.1 versus 35.4 percent). Compared with usual care, HBPM resulted in improved systolic BP (−12.4 mm Hg) and diastolic BP (−5.7 mm Hg). The effects were even larger in patients who also had diabetes or chronic kidney disease. HBPM patients received greater medication intensification and more e-mail and telephone contact, and a greater proportion reported high satisfaction with their hypertension care compared to the usual-care group (58 versus 42 percent).
"In conclusion, a pharmacist-led, American Heart Association Heart360 Web-enabled home BP intervention led to higher rates of BP control and larger BP reductions than usual care for patients with uncontrolled hypertension," the authors write. "Patients enrolled in the intervention also reported significantly greater satisfaction with their hypertension care than patients receiving usual care."
Abstract
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