Improving cardiovascular control in a hypertensive population in primary care. Results from a staff training intervention

Figures & data

Table 1. Blood pressure, LDL-cholesterol and visits per year.

	2018		2020		Difference		Significance
Year	Intervention	Control	Intervention	Control	Intervention	Control	p diff(I) – diff(C)
Blood pressure:
Systolic (mmHg)	135.70	137.44	135.34	137.35	−0.37	−0.09	0.680
Diastolic (mmHg)	79.97	80.55	79.63	80.69	−0.34	+0.14	0.447
<140/90 (%)	56.27	49.61	60.91	51.95	+4.64	+2.34	0.362
> =150 systolic (%)	14.08	18.20	15.14	18.55	+1.07	+0.36	0.840
Cholesterol:  LDL-C (mmol/L)	3.38	3.36	3.27	3.37	−0.11	+0.01	0.032
<3.0 mmol/L (%)	34.25	35.60	39.84	36.06	+5.59	+0.46	0.043
Digit preference:
Blood pressure value ends with 0 (%)	38.80	41.15	26.71	34.93	−12.09	−6.22	0.000
Visits per year:
Nurse	0.85	0.66	0.84	0.59	−0.00	−0.08	0.498
Physician	0.82	1.02	0.73	0.95	−0.09	−0.06	0.533
Ratio nurse/physician	1.04	0.72	1.16	0.70	+0.11	−0.02	0.559

Descriptive data including blood pressure, LDL-cholesterol and visits per year at baseline (2018) and two years later (2020) for intervention group and control group. Change from 2018 to 2020. Significance for the difference in change from baseline between the intervention and control groups.

Figure 1. Separate results for the 11 PCCs included in the intervention (PCCs 1-11), their mean (Intervention) and mean for control group (Control). Progress from 2018 to 2020 (X-axis) in percentage of hypertensive patients (Y-axis) reaching blood pressure target <140/90 (upper left, A), with blood pressure value ending on -0 (digit preference, down left, B), reaching LDL-C <3.0 mmol/L (upper right, C) and with statin (down right, D).

Table 2. Dispensed antihypertensive drugs and statins.

	2018		2020		Difference		Significance
Year	Intervention	Control	Intervention	Control	Intervention	Control	p diff(I) – diff(C)
No of BP drugs	1.632	1.615	1.636	1.624	+0.004	+0.008	0.824
ACEi (%)	23.58	24.06	19.85	22.24	−3.73	−1.82	0.002
ARBs (%)	39.20	35.61	46.00	40.14	+6.80	+4.53	0.033
candesartan (% of ARBs)	34.17	28.50	53.70	38.20	+19.53	+9.70	0.000
CCBs (%)	34.33	36.08	35.29	38.04	+0.96	+1.95	0.364
amlodipin (% of CCBs)	67.62	60.49	70.69	63.72	+3.07	+3.22	0.518
Diuretics (%)	25.77	25.31	24.37	22.87	−1.41	−2.44	0.214
BBs (%)	30.81	30.69	28.37	29.40	−2.45	−1.29	0.035
Statins (%)	26.37	24.76	31.54	26.46	+5.17	+1.69	0.071

Descriptive data for dispensed drugs. Mean number of antihypertensive drugs dispensed to hypertensive patients and percentage of hypertensive patients with different types of antihypertensive drugs and statins in intervention group and control group, respectively. Change from 2018 to 2020. Significance for the difference in change from baseline between the intervention and control groups.