Education of hypertensive subject must sensitize the patient to its pathway
and to the prescribed treatment. Self-measurement of blood pressure, which
directly implicates the patient, should ameliorate the education of hypert
ensive subject.
Objectives: To evaluate if the possession of a self-measurement blood press
ure device improves patients' knowledge of hypertension.
Methods: In 484 treated hypertensive subjects referred to hypertension spec
ialists, a questionnaire evaluating patients knowledge of hypertension and
its treatment was given before the consultation. During this consultation,
the practitioner evaluated the concordance between antihypertensive treatme
nts declared by the patient and those effectively prescribed.
Results: In this population, aged 61 +/- 12 years, with 55% of men, a self-
measurement blood pressure device was possessed by 165 subjects (34%). Thes
e devices have been bought without medical advice by 83 patients. For a min
ority of subjects (n=41), self-measurements of blood pressure were made at
the wrist. Blood pressure level was similar in subjects with (141 +/- 19/80
+/- 10 mmHg) or without (140 +/- 19/80 +/- 10 mmHg) self-measurement devic
es.
Subjects possessing a self measurement device had a better knowledge of the
ir usual blood pressure level and of the normal blood pressure values (< 14
0/90 mmHg), than subjects without self measurement device (93% vs 77%, p<0.
01, and 56% vs 33%, p<0.01, respectively). Moreover, subjects in possession
of self-measurement devices had a better knowledge of their antihypertensi
ve treatment than those without device (83% vs 70%, p<0.05). Logistic regre
ssion analysis including age, sex, smoking, education level, blood pressure
level and the number of antihypertensive tablets confirm the statistical d
ifferences observed.
Conclusion: Hypertensive subjects who possess a self-measurement blood pres
sure device have a better knowledge of their hypertension. These results in
dicate that the possession of a self-measurement device contributes to the
education of hypertensive patients.