An Intervention to Improve Communication Between Physicians and Minority Patients With Hypertension

Denver Health and Hospital Authority

Status: Completed

Conditions: Hypertension

Treatments: Behavioral: Self-affirmation exercise; Behavioral: Control

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT01037920

R21HL089623

Details and patient eligibility

About

The objective of the project is a test-of-concept of an intervention to reduce the effects of the perception of discrimination on the care of patients with chronic illness. Perception of discrimination manifests itself as stereotype threat. We hypothesize that stereotype threat impairs communication between minority patients and their physicians because of increased stress and diminished trust, resulting in interactions that are less successful at enhancing patient self-efficacy, in turn resulting in lower rates of adherence with anti-hypertensive medication.

The intervention is a self-affirmation exercise performed prior to a patient-physician visit. A similar intervention has been shown to reduce the racial gap in academic performance in middle school classrooms.

We will explore the mechanistic effects of the intervention by analysis of audiotapes of patient-provider visits following the intervention. We will measure the effect of the intervention on minority hypertensive patients' adherence with antihypertensive medication and blood pressure.

We will enroll 200 African American and Latino patients with hypertension and randomize 100 patients to perform the exercise and 100 patients to perform a null control exercise before the visit. We will assess change in patient's adherence with antihypertensive medications and in blood pressure over the six months following the index visit. In order to better understand the effects of the intervention we will measure subject's mood following the exercise, and self-reported stress levels, trust in the physician, and medication self-efficacy following the visit. We will also assess the quality of the patient-provider interaction from detailed analysis of audiotapes and from patient questionnaires. Following a subsequent patient-physician visit, we will conduct telephone interviews with patients to assess for persistence of any effects of the intervention.

Enrollment: 179 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 21+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• diagnosis of hypertension
• age > 21 years
• use of Denver Health as their usual source of care and pharmacy services
• self-described race/ethnicity of African American or Latino
• ability to provide informed consent

Exclusion criteria

• pregnancy-related hypertension
• end-stage renal disease
• unable to speak or write English at at least a 6th grade level.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Health Services Research

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Quadruple Blind

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179 participants in 2 patient groups

Intervention

Experimental group

Description:

subjects in the intervention arm will complete a self-affirmation exercise prior to a physician visit

Treatment:

Behavioral: Self-affirmation exercise

Control

Active Comparator group

Description:

subjects in the intervention arm will complete a sham exercise prior to a physician visit

Treatment:

Behavioral: Control