Improving Effective Hypertension Management in a Rural Primary Care Clinic Using American Heart Association Guidelines
Year: 2025
Type: article
Study design: Clinical Trial
Abstract: Background: Hypertension affects nearly 50% of adult Americans and can lead to serious cardiovascular complications, including myocardial infarction, stroke, and death. The Centers for Disease Control noted that hypertension costs $131 billion a year in healthcare visits, medications to treat high blood pressure, and loss of productivity due to premature death. Methods: The project consisted of four Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles implementing two core interventions with tests of change for each cycle driven by study of the data. Results: Repeating blood pressure measurements improved from 14% to 69% over 8 weeks, with a z-score calculated regarding the aim with a pre-and post-implementation p < 0.0001. Hypertension screening was used in 84% of eligible participants and patient engagement was used with 39%. Conclusions: This project improved hypertension screening and increased patient engagement. The interventions can be easily implemented in similar settings.
DOI: 10.29173/jpnep47
Authors: Alexandra Peters, Ann Schaeffer
Institution: Fujian Normal University
Language: English
Subfield: Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W4408431600