Electronic monitoring of adherence, treatment of hypertension, and blood pressure control

Hein A.W. Van Onzenoort, Willem J. Verberk, Abraham A. Kroon, Alfons G.H. Kessels, Cees Neef, Paul Hugo M. Van Der Kuy, Peter W. De Leeuw*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

23 Citations (Scopus)
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Abstract

Background Although it is generally acknowledged that electronic monitoring of adherence to treatment improves blood pressure (BP) control by increasing patients' awareness to their treatment, little information is available on the long-term effect of this intervention.MethodsIn this observational study among a total of 470 patients with mild-to-moderate hypertension, adherence was measured in 228 patients by means of both the Medication Event Monitoring System (MEMS) and pill count (intervention group), and in 242 patients by means of pill count alone (control group). During a follow-up period of 1 year consisting of seven visits to the physician's office, BP measurements were performed and medication adjusted based on the achieved BP. In addition, at each visit adherence to treatment was assessed. Results On the basis of pill counts, median adherence to treatment did not differ between the intervention group and the control group (96.1% vs. 94.2%; P = 0.97). In both groups, systolic and diastolic BP decreased similarly: 23/13 vs. 22/12 mm Hg in the intervention and control group respectively. Drug changes and the number of drugs used were associated with BP at the start of study, but not with electronic monitoring. Conclusion sIn this study, electronic monitoring of adherence to treatment by means of MEMS did not lead to better long-term BP control nor did it result in less drug changes and drug use.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)54-59
Number of pages6
JournalAmerican Journal of Hypertension
Volume25
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jan 2012
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
acknowledgments: This study was funded by the netherlands Organisation for Health research and Development (Health Care Efficiency research Programme; grant 945-01-043) and the Dutch Heart Foundation (grant 2005B101)

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