COMPARISON OF RELAXATION TECHNIQUES, ROUTINE BLOOD-PRESSURE MEASUREMENTS, AND SELF-LEARNING PACKAGES IN HYPERTENSION CONTROL

Background. Even though the effectiveness of meditation and relaxation skills is controversial in blood pressure control, extensive field st udies are limited. A national study targeting 50 communities randomly selected from northern Taiwan was conducted to test and compare the ef fectiveness of hypertension control incorporating three strategies. Me thods. Five hundred ninety hypertensives identified from 3,128 adults at a screening survey among the 50 communities were invited to partici pate in the study and were randomly assigned to three treatment modali ties, (a) relaxation techniques training at home, (b) routine blood pr essure measurement by a health professional, and (c) reading self-lear ning packages, or to a control group. Results. After a 2-month interve ntion period, the three treatment groups showed a significant reductio n in systolic blood pressure levels compared with the control group (1 1.0 mm Hg for group 1, 9.2 mm Hg for group 2, and 5.1 mm Hg for group 3). The relaxation group had the most significant reduction in systoli c blood pressure levels, followed by the routine blood pressure monito ring group and the self-learning group. However, the effect of relaxat ion training at home was not significantly greater than routine blood pressure measurement by a health professional. (C) 1996 Academic Press , Inc.