EVALUATION OF THE IMPACT BLOOD-PRESSURE PROGRAM

To evaluate the incremental effectiveness of a work-site blood pressur e control program, we conducted a randomized, controlled trial at four work sites with established health promotion programs. Workers with b lood pressures of 140/90 mm Hg or higher were eligible. Eighty subject s were assigned to receive a referral to a community physician, monthl y 10-minute work-site counseling sessions including blood pressure rea dings, and personalized mailings, whereas 79 control subjects received only a physician referral. Results for 74 intervention and 71 control subjects were obtained after 1 year. As compared with control subject s, intervention subjects experienced average declines of 8.5/3.9 mm Hg . Adjusted for age, sex, and baseline blood pressure, the decreases we re 7.6 mm Hg for systolic and 2.4 mm Hg for diastolic blood pressure. These results suggest that counseling of high-risk persons and persona lized mailing programs can have an incremental benefit in controlling blood pressure.