Education, cardiovascular risk factors and blood pressure control in hypertensive outpatients

Background: The lack of knowledge of hypertension and other cardiovascular risk factors continues to be a major challenge for blood pressure (BP) control and effective prevention of cardiovascular disease. Aim: This prospective, single-centre, open-label, randomised study was designed to evaluate the impact of education on cardiovascular risk control and target BP values in hypertensive outpatients. Methods: We studied 201 consecutive hypertensive outpatients during the first outpatient visit. Of them, 101 subjects were included in the active education group (Group E1) and were offered extra workshops additional to the standard visits. The next 100 patients (control group) received standard information and medical service during each ambulatory visit (Group E0). The follow-up period was 12 months. In both groups, cardiometabolic comorbidities, global cardiovascular risk, and the range of BP control were analysed. Results: We observed significant systolic BP (SBP) reduction during the follow-up period in the studied population, as assessed by three different BP control methods: home BP measurement (HBPM; –4.0 mmHg; p < 0.001), office BP measurement (OBPM; –9.6 mmHg; p < 0.001), and ambulatory BP monitoring (ABPM; –4.8 mmHg; p < 0.001). Similar results were noted in terms of diastolic BP (DBP) reduction in OBPM (–11.3 mmHg; p = 0.001) and ABPM (–2.7 mmHg; p = 0.001). We found no correlation between education intensity and the achieved BP reduction. We observed a decrease in the percentage of obese patients in Group E1 (84.3% vs. 76.0%; p < 0.001). Conclusions: A significant B