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VA RESEARCH: EDUCATION AND SIMPLE MEASURES
IMPROVE HYPERTENSION CARE -- Focused and
inexpensive measures improved high blood pressure
control and treatment among veterans.
For more about VA research, use the VA watchdog
search engine...click here...
http://www.yourvabenefits.org/sessearch.php?q=va+research&op=ph
Story here...
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/aha-esm042908.php
Story below:
-------------------------
BillContact: Karen Astle
karen.astle@heart.org
214-706-1392
American Heart Association
Education, simple measures keys to improving
vets' hypertension care
Abstract 161
Focused and inexpensive measures improved high blood pressure control and
treatment among veterans, according to a study presented at the American
Heart Association’s 9th Scientific Forum on Quality of Care and Outcomes
Research in Cardiovascular Disease and Stroke.
Researchers observed 53,936 Veteran Affairs (VA) patients for 39 weeks (21
weeks before and 18 weeks after the interventions) during outpatient
visits for hypertension. Of the group, 33,967 (63 percent) reached their
blood pressure goal. The proportion that reached their goal varied over
time: pre intervention — 61.8 percent reached goal vs. post intervention —
64.3 percent.
Overall, absolute blood pressure control improved 2.5 percent during the
intervention period, translating into another 1,349 persons who achieved
control over hypertension.
“Over a four-month period we were able to highlight the importance of
blood pressure control with Veteran Affairs Hospital providers and
patients and make some small but significant changes,” said Christianne
Roumie, M.D., M.P.H., lead author of the study and staff physician for the
Veterans Affairs Tennessee Valley Healthcare System.
Because hypertension is the most commonly treated
chronic condition in VA hospitals, the chief of staff created a
performance improvement committee to optimize local hypertension care,
Roumie said.
High blood pressure, or hypertension, in an adult is systolic pressure of
140 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg) or higher and/or diastolic pressure of
90 mm Hg or higher. High blood pressure increases the risk of heart
attack, angina, stroke, kidney failure, peripheral artery disease (PAD)
and the development of fatty deposits in arteries (atherosclerosis). Heart
failure risk also increases due to the extra workload that high blood
pressure places on the heart.
“For patients to effectively manage a chronic illness, such as
hypertension, they need information that’s easy to understand and they
need to be involved in the decision-making process,” said Roumie, an
assistant professor of internal medicine and pediatrics at Vanderbilt
University in Nashville, Tenn.
Researchers identified four interventions:
* Improve measurement and documentation of blood pressure by using a
nursing protocol.
* Initiate patient education efforts at visits and give patients a blood
pressure wallet card so they could track their own blood pressures and
goals.
* Distribute treatment guidelines on pocket cards to providers and display
posters outlining treatment algorithms.
* Initiate audit/feedback of the provider and firm’s performance.
Roumie said reducing blood pressure and getting patients to their goal has
the potential to reduce:
* stroke disease and death by 42 percent;
* heart disease by 14 percent to 20 percent; and
* heart failure by 30 percent to 50 percent.
The estimated 2005 prevalence for high blood pressure in the United States
was 73 million (about 34 million men and 39 million women). One in three
U.S. adults has high blood pressure, according to the American Heart
Association’s Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics – 2008 Update.
Benefits derived from the study can be implemented at other hospitals both
VA and non VA; however, each healthcare system “must do some work on the
front end to understand what barriers to care exist, specifically, for
their own system,” Roumie said.
###
The research was funded through the local VA medical center.
Co-authors are: Neesha N. Choma, M.D.; Robert L. Huang, M.D., M.P.H.;
Robert S. Dittus, M.D., M.P.H.; and Kathy E. Burnham, R.N., M.A., B.S.N.
Editor’s Note: The American Heart Association’s high blood pressure Web
site features educational information and resources that patients can use
to help achieve their blood pressure goal, including a link to the Blood
Pressure Management Center of Microsoft’s HealthVault. For information
about high blood pressure and to access the Blood Pressure Management
Center, visit
www.americanheart.org/hbp.
Statements and conclusions of abstract authors presented at American Heart
Association/American Stroke Association scientific meetings are solely
those of the abstract authors and do not necessarily reflect association
policy or position. The association makes no representation or warranty as
to their accuracy or reliability.
-------------------------
posted by Larry
Scott
Founder and Editor
VA Watchdog dot Org
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