Effectiveness of patient education and psychosocial counseling in promoting compliance and control among hypertensive patients. Improving blood pressure control in diabetes: limitations of a clinical reminder in influencing physician behavior. A randomized trial of special packaging of antihypertensive medications. Improving blood pressure control through provider education, provider alerts, and patient education: a cluster randomized trial. Pharmacist involvement in primary care improves hypertensive patient clinical outcomes. Randomised clinical trial of strategies for improving medication compliance in primary hypertension. Increasing compliance. Patient-operated hypertension groups. Electronic monitoring of adherence as a tool to improve blood pressure control. A randomized controlled trial. A controlled trial of health education in the physician's office.
Compliance with physician recommendations among long-term hypertensive patients can be a chronic and difficult treatment problem. This study evaluated the relative effectiveness of additional patient education and psychosocial counseling in improving patient compliance. At a family practice clinic, 123 low income, rural, black hypertensive patients were pretested on several psychological characteristics and randomly assigned to one of three groups: vigorous, group patient education and family physician appointments; supportive, individualized psychosocial counseling and family physician appointments; or family physician appointments only, which was the baseline medical care. Intervention and follow-up each lasted three months, and the intervention was in addition to the patients' baseline medical care. Compliance was measured by: keeping follow-up appointments; bringing antihypertension medications to each appointment; consuming these medications; and diastolic blood pressure. Analysis of variance of group mean and change scores, t tests, and chisquare analysis indicated that neither additional patient education nor additional psychosocial counseling improved compliance or blood pressure control significantly better than regular family physician visits alone. Hypertension should be aggressively treated, especially in diabetic patients. But studies of physician prescribing habits reveal that physicians often delay making medication changes or initiating antihypertensive therapy. A chart-based reminder was designed to improve physician medication prescribing in this clinical situation.
                A randomized controlled trial was conducted at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Richmond, Virginia. Patients with diabetes and hypertension were selected. A highly visible chart reminder was applied to the front of outpatient charts in the intervention group practice. A chart review was conducted to assess physician-directed medication changes. A successful outcome was defined as any antihypertensive medication increase or addition at that same visit.
                Physicians were more likely to intensify antihypertensive medication as the blood pressure increased regardless of the reminder. Overall, only 33% of visits resulted in a medication change, even though 93% of patients had elevations over target blood pressure at the follow-up visit. Physicians in the intervention and control groups made changes to medication at similar rates (chi 2 = 0.621, p = .511).
                In this study, a chart reminder failed to improve physician compliance with the clinical guideline for hypertension management in diabetics, Sixth Report of the Joint National Committee on the Detection, Evaluation, Prevention and Treatment of High Blood Pressure. To inform the design of effective intervention strategies, further research should explore specific barriers to guideline adherence in this clinical situation. This article reports a randomized controlled trial designed to test the effects of special packaging of antihypertensive medication on compliance and blood pressure control. One hundred eighty subjects who had exhibited elevated blood pressure greater than 90 mmHg in the two years prior to the study were recruited from patients receiving care at a community hospital-based family medicine practice. After completing preenrollment interviews and blood pressure measurements, subjects were randomly assigned to receive their antihypertensive medications either in the usual vials or in special unit dose-reminder packaging. Follow-up interviews, pill counts, and blood pressure measurements were performed at three-month intervals. There were no statistically significant differences between the control and experimental groups with regard to age, sex, race, employment, education, marital status, insurance coverage, or blood pressure regimens. Prior to the intervention, the experimental group had slightly lower diastolic blood pressure and reported better compliance than the control group. Analyses performed on 165 subjects completing the first follow-up visit revealed no significant improvements in blood pressure control or compliance for patients receiving special medication packaging. While some patients found it easy to remember to take pills packaged using this format, they also found the packages somewhat more difficult and inconvenient to use. In contrast to previously reported work, this study did not demonstrate any significant improvement in compliance with special packaging of antihypertensive medications. Inadequate blood pressure control is a persistent gap in quality care.
                To evaluate provider and patient interventions to improve blood pressure control.
                Cluster randomized, controlled trial.
                2 hospital-based and 8 community-based clinics in the Veterans Affairs Tennessee Valley Healthcare System.
                1341 veterans with essential hypertension cared for by 182 providers. Eligible patients had 2 or more blood pressure measurements greater than 140/90 mm Hg in a 6-month period and were taking a single antihypertensive agent.
                Providers who cared for eligible patients were randomly assigned to receive an e-mail with a Web-based link to the Seventh Report of the Joint National Committee on the Prevention, Detection, Evaluation and Treatment of High Blood Pressure (JNC 7) guidelines (provider education); provider education and a patient-specific hypertension computerized alert (provider education and alert); or provider education, hypertension alert, and patient education, in which patients were sent a letter advocating drug adherence, lifestyle modification, and conversations with providers (patient education).
                Proportion of patients with a systolic blood pressure less than 140 mm Hg at 6 months; intensification of antihypertensive medication.
                Mean baseline blood pressure was 157/83 mm Hg with no differences between groups (P = 0.105). Six-month follow-up data were available for 975 patients (73%). Patients of providers who were randomly assigned to the patient education group had better blood pressure control (138/75 mm Hg) than those in the provider education and alert or provider education alone groups (146/76 mm Hg and 145/78 mm Hg, respectively). More patients in the patient education group had a systolic blood pressure of 140 mm Hg or less compared with those in the provider education or provider education and alert groups (adjusted relative risk for the patient education group compared with the provider education alone group, 1.31 [95% CI, 1.06 to 1.62]; P = 0.012).
                Follow-up blood pressure measurements were missing for 27% of study patients. The study could not detect a mechanism by which patient education improved blood pressure control.
                A multifactorial intervention including patient education improved blood pressure control compared with provider education alone. The practice of pharmaceutical care in primary care settings in Thailand is currently not generally accepted.
                To evaluate the effect of pharmacist involvement in treatment with hypertensive patients in primary care settings.
                The treatment objective was to stabilize the blood pressure (BP) of hypertensive patients in accordance with the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation and Treatment of High Blood Pressure guidelines. Patients were randomly assigned to a pharmacist-involved group (treatment) or a group with no pharmacist involvement (control). Pre- and post-test BPs, tablet counts, lifestyle modifications, and pharmacists' recommendations were recorded. The 6-month study was carried out in Mahasarakham University pharmacy and 2 primary care units. Patients were monitored monthly by reviewing their medications and supported by providing pharmaceutical care and counseling.
                From a total of 235 patients, the treatment group (n = 118) had a significant reduction in both systolic (S) and diastolic (D) BP compared with the 117 patients of the control group (p = 0.037, 0.027, respectively). The 158 patients (76 treatment, 82 control) with BPs >or=140/90 mm Hg at the beginning of the study showed significant BP reductions (p = 0.002 SBP, 0.008 DBP). The proportion of 158 patients whose BP became stabilized was higher in the treatment group (p = 0.017). The treatment group showed significantly better adherence (p = 0.014) and exercise control (p = 0.012) at the end of the study. Physicians accepted 42.72% of medication modifications and 5.34% of the suggestions for additional investigations.
                Hypertensive patients who received pharmacist input achieved a significantly greater benefit in BP reduction, BP control, and improvement in adherence rate and lifestyle modification. 230 Canadian steelworkers with hypertension took part in a randomised trial to see if compliance with antihypertensive drug regimens could be improved. For care and follow-up these men were randomly allocated to see either their own family doctors outside working-hours or industrial physicians during work shifts; the same men were randomly allocated to receive or not receive an educational programme aimed at instructing them about hypertension and its treatment. Surprisingly, the convenience of follow-up at work had no effect upon these men's compliance with antihypertensive drug regimens. Similarly, although men receiving health education learned a lot about hypertension, they were not more likely to take their medicine. Compliance was compared in 52 previously noncompliant hypertensive patients randomly assigned for eight weeks to either a nurse-operated hypertension clinic (control) or a patient-operated hypertension group] (experimental). Control patients listened to audiotapes on hypertension and its management and met individually with a nurse who adjusted their drug regimens. Experimental patients were trained to take their own blood pressure (BP) and select their own drugs in a group program emphasizing informed self-help. After the eight-week training period and at two- and six-month follow-up visits, both groups had significantly lower BPs. Compared with control patients, experimental patients had lower diastolic BPs, better pill counts, and better attendance (all P < .05). This study suggests that training noncompliant patients in groups to manage their own hypertension may achieve better results than traditional management programs. Poor adherence to antihypertensive drug regimens is believed to be a major contributor to treatment failure. Electronic monitoring of adherence may improve adherence and allow differentiation between those who are nonadherent and those who are pharmacologically nonresponsive. This study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of electronic monitoring of adherence in lowering blood pressure (BP) in comparison with usual care.
                A total of 258 patients with high BP despite use of antihypertensive medication were randomly assigned to either continuation of usual care (with adjustment in antihypertensive medication if necessary) or to the introduction of electronic monitoring. Adherence to antihypertensive medication was monitored for 2 months without medication changes. The primary outcome measure was the proportion of patients who reached target BP levels after a 5-month follow-up period.
                At 5 months, 50.6% of the patients in the usual care group reached adequate BP, v 53.7% in the electronic monitoring group (P = .73). The percentages of patients with drug additions or increases in dosage were higher in the usual care group compared with those in whom adherence was monitored (P < .01).
                These data show that electronic monitoring in comparison to usual care results in similar BP control but leads to fewer drug changes and less drug use. This result is likely to be achieved by improving adherence. Hence a strategy that includes electronic monitoring has the potential to prevent unnecessary treatment escalation in patients with poor adherence. Screening of 6,144 patients in a general practice clinic to assist physician case-finding uncovered 983 (16%) who were uncontrolled hypertensives. Following physician recommendation, 115 patients volunteered for a controlled trial to test the effectiveness of supplementary strategies to the pharmaceutical management of high blood pressure. A study of nonparticipants indicated that about 7% of the practice population was eligible for cardiovascular health education. One group received a health education program, a second was allocated to self-monitor their blood pressure for 6 months, a third group was allocated to both strategies, and the final group, acting as a control, continued to receive their usual care. Physician monitoring of patients continued for the duration of the study and blood pressures decreased in all patients. The study's most important outcome was the joint reduction of blood pressure and medication strength. These were assessed by a "blind" clinician before and after the interventions according to criteria set out in the "stepped-care" approach to management of high blood pressure. People allocated to a health education program conducted in the doctor's common room did twice as well on this measure as those who were not so educated. Daily self-monitoring of blood pressure for 6 months proved to be too much for the majority of those so instructed. It is concluded that the general practice setting remains an important place for health education to prevent cardiac disease and suggestions are made for incorporating this into everyday practice.
Family practices and community-based clinics need to have an organized system of regular follow-up and review of their hypertensive patients. Antihypertensive drug therapy should be implemented by means of a vigorous stepped care approach when patients do not reach target blood pressure levels. Self-monitoring and appointment reminders may be useful adjuncts to the above strategies to improve blood pressure control but require further evaluation.