Key result
Health education in patients with essential hypertension yielded a greater reduction in systolic blood pressure than control but did not affect depression incidence.
Why the study?
Does health education improve blood pressure control and depression symptoms in patients with essential hypertension?
Does health education improve blood pressure control and depression symptoms in patients with essential hypertension?
Hypertension education significantly improves blood pressure control, particularly in patients with comorbid depression, though it does not reduce depression symptoms.
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
May be associated with greater SBP reduction in essential hypertension without affecting depression; hypothesis-generating, needs randomized confirmation.
To assess the effect of health education on blood pressure control and depression symptoms, we conducted a prospective study in 272 patients with essential hypertension. Depression symptoms were assessed by the Zung Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS). There was no significant difference in the level of hypertension and SDS scores between the educational (n = 138) and control (n = 134) group before the study (p > 0.05). After 12 months of follow-up, the body mass index (BMI) was reduced in the educational group (23.6 +/- 2.6 vs 21.4 +/- 2.2 kg/m2, p < 0.01), but it remained unchanged in the control group. The average systolic and diastolic blood pressure were reduced in both groups, but the amplitude of systolic blood pressure reduction in the educational group was greater than that of the control group (7.9 +/- 2.3 vs 4.2 +/- 2.0 mmHg, p < 0.01). The incidence of depression (10.9% vs 10.4%) and the average SDS scores (32.4 +/- 6.7 vs 33.2 +/- 6.9) were similar between the two groups (p > 0.05). However, in the depressed patients who received hypertension education, the average systolic (160.2 +/- 12.4 mmHg) and diastolic (89.8 +/- 7.3 mmHg) blood pressure was significantly lower than that of the control group (169.1 +/- 16.8 and 96.8 +/- 13.0 mmHg, respectively, p < 0.01). We conclude that hypertension education does not reduce the incidence or symptoms of depression, but it may facilitate blood pressure management in patients with clinical depression.
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Wang et al. (2003) studied essential hypertension (n=272). Health education vs. Control group was evaluated on amplitude of systolic blood pressure reduction (p=<0.01). Health education in patients with essential hypertension yielded a greater reduction in systolic blood pressure than control but did not affect depression incidence.
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