Effects of nurse-managed telemonitoring on blood pressure at 12-month follow-up among urban African Americans.
BACKGROUND
Nearly one in three adults in the United States has hypertension. Hypertension is one of the largest risk factors for cardiovascular diseases, and it is growing in prevalence, especially among African Americans.


OBJECTIVE
To test the hypothesis that individuals who participate in usual care (UC) plus blood pressure (BP) telemonitoring (TM) will have a greater reduction in BP from baseline to 12-month follow-up than would individuals who receive UC only.


METHODS
A two-group, experimental, longitudinal design with block stratified randomization for antihypertensive medication use was used. African Americans with hypertension were recruited through free BP screenings offered in the community. Data were collected through a structured interview and brief physical exam. Cross tabs, repeated measures analysis of variance, and independent t tests were used to analyze the study's hypothesis.


RESULTS
The TM intervention group had a greater reduction in systolic BP (13.0 mm Hg) than the enhanced UC group (7.5 mm Hg; t = -2.09, p = .04) from baseline to the 12-month follow-up. Although the TM intervention group had a greater reduction in diastolic BP (6.3 mm Hg) compared with the enhanced UC group (4.1 mm Hg), the differences were not statistically significant (t = -1.56, p = .12).


CONCLUSIONS
: Telemonitoring of BP resulted in clinically and statistically significant reductions in systolic BP over a 12-month period; if maintained over a longer period of time, the reductions could improve care and outcomes significantly for African Americans with hypertension.
Artinian
Nancy T
NT
College of Nursing, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, USA.
Flack
John M
JM
Nordstrom
Cheryl K
CK
Hockman
Elaine M
EM
Washington
Olivia G M
OG
Jen
Kai-Lin Catherine
KL
Fathy
Maryam
M
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000959:Antihypertensive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D044383:Black People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006266:Health Education / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000451:nursing* / Q000517:prevention & control; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D024802:Nurse's Role; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D015995:Prevalence; D016037:Single-Blind Method; D017216:Telemedicine / Q000379:methods*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001741:Black or African American
D000959:Antihypertensive Agents