Nurse-led, telephone-based secondary preventive follow-up benefits stroke/TIA patients with low education : a randomized controlled trial sub-study

Background: The objective of this study was to analyze the impact of two forms of secondary preventive followup on the association between education level and levels of blood pressure (BP) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) after stroke/transient ischemic attack (TIA). Methods: We included a population-based cohort of 771 stroke and TIA patients randomly assigned (1:1) to secondary preventive follow-up within primary health care (control) or nurse-led, telephone-based follow-up (intervention) between January 1, 2010, and December 31, 2013, as part of the NAILED (nurse-based ageindependent intervention to limit evolution of disease) stroke risk factor trial. We compared BP and LDL-C levels 12 months after hospital discharge in relation to education level (low, ≤10 years; high, >10 years) separately for the intervention and control groups. Results: Among controls, systolic BP (SBP) decreased only among the highly educated (−2.5 mm Hg, 95% confidence interval (CI) −0.2 to −4.8), whereas LDL-C increased in the low-education group (0.2 mmol/L, 95% CI 0.1 to 0.3). At 12 months, controls with low education not more than 70 years of age had higher SBP than controls of the same age with high education (5.8 mm Hg, 95% CI 1.0 to 10.6). In contrast, SBP in the intervention group decreased similarly regardless of education level, LDL-C decreased among those with low education (−0.3 mmol/L, 95% CI −0.2 to −0.4) and, in the subgroup not more than 70 years old, low-educated participants had lower LDL-C at 12 months than those with high education (0.3 mmol/L, 95% CI 0.1 to 0.5). Conclusions: Nurse-led, telephone-based secondary preventive follow-up led to comparable improvements in BP across education groups, while routine follow-up disfavored those with low education. Trial registration: ISRCTN Registry ISRCTN23868518, June 19, 2012 - Retrospectively registeredOriginally included in thesis in manuscript form with title: Nurse-led, telephone-based secondary preventive follow-up benefits stroke/TIA patients with low education: a prospective cohort study