STRUCTURED PATIENT EDUCATION FOR OUT-PATIENTS WITH HYPERTENSION IN GENERAL-PRACTICE - A MODEL PROJECT IN GERMANY

In model project, office-based physicians in two regions of Germany pr ovided a structured treatment and teaching programme for out-patients with hypertension. The project was carried out in co-operation with th e German Hypertension League and designed to evaluate the practicabili ty and efficacy of the implementation in routine primary health care. A total of 111 primary health care practices in two German districts w ho had participated in a training course were interviewed. In 43 of th ese offices documented data of all patients who had received the stand ardised treatment and teaching were evaluated. The programme was well received by the physicians of which 81% rated the training course and 93% the teaching material as 'very good' or 'good'. A total of 466 pat ients were trained. Data collected on 272 patients (22 weeks after the intervention) demonstrated the efficacy of the programme at treatment level: reduction of body weight (2 kg, P < 0.001) and blood pressure (from systolic 158 +/- 18 to 148 +/- 17 mm Hg, P < 0.001; diastolic 91 +/- 9 to 86 +/- 9, P < 0.001). Sixty-five per cent of patients learne d for the first time how to perform blood pressure self-monitoring dur ing the programme. The number of blood pressure readings by the patien ts' increased significantly from 1 +/- 3 measurements per week before, to 8 +/- 7 measurements per week after the programme (P < 0.001). The results of the study demonstrate the practicability and efficacy of t he implementation of the programme for patients with hypertension into routine primary health care.