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Family-oriented Treatment of Hypertension: Presented at CCC

By Danny Kucharsky

MONTREAL, CANADA -- November 4, 2005 -- A family-oriented approach should be used to improve compliance and blood pressure control in households, concludes a cross-sectional pilot study.

Since risk factors for hypertension are prevalent in households, an approach that involves all family members can improve awareness and detection rates, researchers reported here on October 24^th at the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress (CCC) 2005.

The study was designed to determine whether recruiting household members can improve the pick-up rate of hypertension and other risk factors, explained lead investigator, Dr. Francis Geronimo, MD, Section of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital Medical Center, Manila, The Philippines.

The researchers enrolled 100 adult hypertensive patients and adult household members, and invited them to the outpatient clinics of Dr. Geronimo's hospital. Patients were screened for hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, obesity, smoking and sedentary lifestlyes.

Of the 100 index patients recruited, 71% brought a total of 89 of 250 (36%) household members; 58% of index patients and 40% of household respondents presented for follow-ups.

Index patients and household members shared similar profiles, except that index patients were significantly older, had lower high-density lipoprotein (HDL) levels and higher low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels.

The most prevalent risk factor for both groups was dyslipidemia (82% in index group, 74% in household members, P = .82). A sedentary lifestyle was found in 59% of the index group and 66% of household members (P = .29). Obesity was seen in 21% of both groups (P = .83). Diabetes and smoking followed as the most prevalent risk factors.

The prevalence of metabolic syndrome was 66% among index patients and 33% among household members (P = .007).

"Hypertensive patients and household members share similar risk factors," Dr. Geronimo said. This shows that hypertension and risk factor management should be a family affair, he added.

To improve blood pressure control, a family-oriented approach involving family members could include home blood pressure measurement, group therapies, increased accessibility to medical facilities or specialist-facilitated follow-ups, he said.


[Presentation title: Family-oriented Treatment of Hypertension. Abstract 459]

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