Training general practitioners on hypertension guidelines significantly improved the blood pressure control rate among known hypertensive patients from 33.4% at baseline to 52.7% at 9 months.
Observational (n=5,524)
Yes
Does training general practitioners on hypertension guidelines improve blood pressure control in hypertensive patients?
Training general practitioners on hypertension guidelines and implementing structured follow-up significantly improves blood pressure control rates in primary care.
Absolute Event Rate: 52.7% vs 33.4%
BACKGROUND: Hypertension control is still unsatisfactory. The study was aimed to evaluate blood pressure (BP) control rate and the impact of training general practitioners (GPs) about hypertension 1999 World Health Organization/International Society of Hypertension guidelines. METHODS: After a training session on the hypertension guidelines, 588 GPs consecutively enrolled 5524 known hypertensive patients. During the first and follow-up visits (after 3, 6, and 9 months) GPs recorded BP, lifestyle habits, and drug therapy. RESULTS: The BP was controlled in 33.4%, with systolic BP less controlled than diastolic BP. The BP control rate decreased (P < .001) from low to very high cardiovascular risk group and from lean to overweight and obese subjects. At the first visit 97.3% of the patients were already on drug treatment: 40.3% with 1 drug, 38.9% with 2 drugs, 17.2% with 3 drugs and 3.6% with 4 or 5 drugs. The adherence to correct dietary and lifestyle habits was low. The drugs most often used were the angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (3009 patients, 56%). During follow-up body weight and BP decreased; 1 or more drugs were added in 17.8% and the adherence to healthier lifestyle habits significantly increased. At the end of the survey BP control rate was significantly improved (52.7%). CONCLUSIONS: In primary care the hypertension control rate was still unsatisfactory, and our data suggest that it may be due to a not aggressive enough drug treatment and a low adherence to recommended lifestyle and dietary habits. Increasing the knowledge of GPs about guidelines was associated with an improvement of hypertension control rate.
Grandi et al. (Tue,) conducted a observational in Hypertension (n=5,524). General practitioner training on 1999 WHO/ISH hypertension guidelines vs. Baseline was evaluated on Blood pressure control rate. Training general practitioners on hypertension guidelines significantly improved the blood pressure control rate among known hypertensive patients from 33.4% at baseline to 52.7% at 9 months.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: