Blood pressure knowledge in hypertensive hemodialysis patients

The major purpose of this quantitative study was to determine if a supportive educative nursing intervention incorporating blood pressure (BP) education, monitoring, goal setting and reinforcement would improve BP control in a chronic hemodialysis (HD) population. One of the specific aims of this study was to determine if the intervention increased BP knowledge in the treatment group compared to the usual care group at 12 weeks and if that knowledge translated into improved BP control.

A randomized experimental design.

One hundred and eighteen participants recruited from six HD units in the Detroit metro area.

The study group received BP education sessions and a 12-week intervention. The intervention consisted of the participants monitoring and recording their BP, salt and fluid intake daily for 12 weeks. BP, fluid and salt logs were reviewed weekly with the principal investigator (PI) to determine if goals were met or not met. Reinforcement was given for goals met and problem-solving offered when goals were not met. The control group received standard care.

Patients had fairly good levels of knowledge about blood pressure control behaviours at baseline and there was no significant improvement at follow-up. There was no significant difference in BP knowledge scores between the two groups at 12 weeks (t = 1.4, p = .16). There was no significant increase in BP knowledge scores within the treatment group at 12 weeks (t = -.74, p = .47). Overall, there was a significant decrease in systolic (t = 3.02, p = .003) and diastolic BPs (t = .48, p = .001) in the treatment group compared to the control group at 12 weeks. There were no significant correlations between BP knowledge scores and systolic BP or diastolic BP.