Who is being reached for a telephone-delivered intervention for patients with uncontrolled hypertension?

Telephone-delivered interventions to provide health counseling for complex chronic medical conditions are convenient, acceptable, and cost-effective. However, little is known about which patients are reached, their characteristics, and who benefits most from telephone-delivered counseling.

This study examined whether baseline characteristics are predictive of being easily reached for a monthly, telephone-delivered behavioral intervention to improve treatment adherence in Veterans with uncontrolled hypertension. Participants were to complete a telephone session once a month for 6 months.

Participants completed an average of 5.71 out of a possible 6 sessions. Participants who were unmarried, African American, unemployed, or younger or did not complete high school required significantly more call attempts per completed session.

Overall, telephone-delivered counseling is a feasible approach to reaching hypertensive patients. Patients who are married, Hispanic, retired, or older or graduated college may be easier to reach and engage in telephone-delivered counseling. Reaching patients with other sociodemographic characteristics may require more resources or alternate methods.