Less than 40 percent of adults in the United States with high blood pressure have adequate blood pressure control. In the November 17, 2009 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine, researchers report that home blood pressure monitoring and telephone intervention can improve blood pressure control.

Researchers from Duke University and their colleagues compared 2 self-management interventions for improving blood pressure control among patients with high blood pressure. Study participants were randomly assigned to receive usual medical care, a behavioral intervention consisting of nurse-administered telephone calls targeted at blood pressure-related behaviors, home blood pressure monitoring, or behavioral intervention plus home blood pressure monitoring. Of the 475 patients who completed the entire 24-month blood pressure follow-up, all who were assigned to receive interventions had improved blood pressure control compared with those who received usual care. The most significant blood pressure improvement (11 percent) was seen in those patients who received both telephone intervention and home blood pressure monitoring.

There were several limitations to this study, including the fact that changes in medication use and diet were only monitored in the intervention participants and the fact that this study was conducted at an academic health center. In addition, 73 percent of the participants actually had adequate blood pressure control at baseline. However, it does seem that self-management interventions such as nurse-administered telephone calls and home blood pressure monitoring can have a positive impact on blood pressure control.
 

Source:

Ann Intern Med 2009;151(10):687-695.