Materials and Methods: A total of 149 and 150 patients were randomized to intervention and usual care (control) groups, respectively. A 12-month task-shifting (nurse-driven) HBFC intervention was administered to intervention group. The mid-term impact of intervention on HRQoL was assessed after 6 months intervention. Data were analyzed with intention-to-treat principle. Treatment effects were measured with the t-tests, analysis of covariance, and multivariate analysis of covariance analysis. Significant levels were set at P < 0.05 and 95% confidence interval.
Results: The between-group treatment effect was not statistically significant (P > 0.05), whereas the within-group treatment effects were statistically significant for both the intervention and control arms (P < 0.05) at 6 months. After controlling for age and baseline HRQoL, the intervention group had an improved physical component of HRQoL than the control group. The intervention group also had statistically significant improvement in blood pressure control, medication adherence, and symptom counts (P < 0.05).
Conclusion: The HBFC intervention for hypertensive patients impacted positively on physical component of HRQoL after controlling for baseline HRQoL and age of the patients at 6 months post-intervention.
AIM: To determine the prevalence of HT and its risk factors in the elderly in that area.
METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in a study area in the northern of Vietnam. We interviewed 354 adults aged 60 years or over who were randomly selected, and then measured their blood pressure.
RESULTS: The overall HT prevalence was 62.15%. The isolated systolic hypertension (ISH) prevalence was 22.88%. There was a slight decrease in the proportion of HT by stage 1, stage 2 and stage 3 respectively. The univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated some risk factors for HT including age groups, body mass index (BMI) and waist-hip ratio (WHR) (p