Support for Cardiovascular Health in African American Primary Care Patients

University of Pennsylvania

Status: Completed

Conditions: Cardiovascular Diseases; Blood Pressure

Treatments: Other: written materials; Behavioral: Peer Coach Phone Calls; Behavioral: Health Educator Visits

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other; Industry

Identifiers

NCT00948714

808214

Details and patient eligibility

About

Project Overview:

Poor hypertension control has dire consequences for the African-American population who suffer greater death and disability from heart disease, stroke, and renal failure than whites. To reduce these health disparities it is critical to promote of a healthy lifestyle in regard to diet, exercise, adherence to medications, as well as other behaviors. However, physicians usually fail to address lifestyle behaviors in the context of the harried patient visit. Therefore, the investigators hypothesized that the investigators could reduce cardiovascular risk by providing additional support to persons with poorly controlled hypertension through phone calls from trained peer patients and visits to an office support staff member.

Study Design:

A single-blind, randomized, controlled trial in 280 African-American primary care patients aged 40-75 with poorly controlled hypertension (HTN). The intervention group receives a practice-based team intervention that combines peer coach with office staff (i.e., medical assistant or licensed practice nurse) visits to address lifestyle challenges. Both intervention and control groups receive informational materials and healthy soul food recipes from the American Heart Association. The 6 month intervention alternates monthly phone calls from peer coaches about lifestyle behavioral changes with office-based visits with the support staff member during which patients review and discuss low literacy slide shows about healthy behaviors as well as examine their personal cardiovascular risk profile.

Enrollment: 130 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 40 to 75 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• African American
• Uncontrolled Hypertension
• at least 3 practice visits in the past 2 years
• One lipid panel since 2005

Exclusion criteria

• No recent lipid panel
• Kept less than 60% of primary care visits in the prior 2 years

Trial design

Primary purpose: Supportive Care

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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130 participants in 2 patient groups

Case

Experimental group

Treatment:

Behavioral: Health Educator Visits

Behavioral: Peer Coach Phone Calls

Other: written materials

Control

Active Comparator group

Treatment:

Other: written materials