Related Experiment Videos
[Optimized therapy for hypertension]
T Heise1, E Jennen, P T Sawicki
1Abteilung für Innere Medizin, St. Franziskus Hospital Köln.
Insights
A structured Hypertension Treatment and Teaching Program (HTTP) improves blood pressure control and reduces hypertension-associated diseases by actively involving patients in their treatment through education and self-monitoring.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Hypertension Management
- Public Health
Context:
- Arterial hypertension control is crucial for reducing morbidity and mortality, especially in high-risk patients.
- Despite increased antihypertensive drug prescriptions, blood pressure control remains unsatisfactory in many patients, including those with essential hypertension and diabetes.
- Less than a minority of patients achieve target blood pressure values below 140/90 mm Hg.
Purpose:
- To describe a structured Hypertension Treatment and Teaching Program (HTTP) designed to intensify antihypertensive therapy.
- To enhance patient compliance through education on non-pharmacological and pharmacological treatments and self-measurement of blood pressure.
- To evaluate the efficacy and feasibility of the HTTP.
Summary:
- The Hypertension Treatment and Teaching Program (HTTP) involves patients actively in their hypertension management.
- The program focuses on patient education regarding treatment options and promotes regular self-monitoring of blood pressure.
- Evaluations demonstrate significant improvements in blood pressure control and a reduction in hypertension-related complications.
Impact:
- The HTTP shows considerable benefits in blood pressure control and reducing the incidence and progression of hypertension-associated diseases.
- Significant reductions observed in cerebrovascular events, cardiovascular events, and diabetic nephropathy.
- Implementation of the HTTP in the German healthcare system is recommended to improve patient care quality for arterial hypertension.
Abstract:
The benefit of good blood pressure control in patients with arterial hypertension has been repeatedly demonstrated. In high-risk patients, a good blood pressure control is one of the main prerequisites for the reduction of morbidity and mortality. However, as has been shown in population-based studies, the quality of blood pressure control both in patients with essential hypertension and in hypertensive diabetic patients is still unsatisfactory. Only a minority of patients achieve target blood pressure values below 140/90 mm Hg. This situation has not changed within the recent years, although the prescriptions of antihypertensive drugs have continuously increased. This paper describes a structured hypertension treatment and teaching program (HTTP) which was developed and evaluated during the last 16 years and which aims at intensification of antihypertensive therapy by active involvement of the patients in their own treatment. This programme primarily focuses on the improvement of the patients' long-term treatment compliance by means of information about non-pharmacological and pharmacological therapies and instructions to regular blood pressure self-measurements. The efficacy and feasibility of the HTTP has been evaluated in several studies which unanimously show considerable benefits not only concerning blood pressure control but, most importantly, regarding reduction in the incidence and progression of hypertension-associated diseases as cerebro- and cardiovascular events and diabetic nephropathy. Therefore, it seems essential to implement the HTTP in the German health care system in order to finally achieve the desired quality of care for patients with arterial hypertension.