Social Networks Help Control Hypertension

Abstract

Cardiovascular health disparities continue to pose a major public health problem. We evaluated the effect of education administered within social networks on the improvement of hypertension in 248 African Americans compared to historical controls. Patients formed clusters with peers and attended monthly hypertension education sessions. We assessed the likelihood of reaching goal below predefined SBP and DBP thresholds as well as the absolute reduction in SBP and DBP, controlling for diabetes, smoking, baseline hypertension, and demographics. The intervention group was more likely to have ever reached treatment goal at 12 months follow-up (OR=1.72, P=0.11). At 18 months of follow-up, the MVP group had a statistically significant larger drop in SBP (−4.82 mmHg, P<0.0001) and DBP (−3.37 mmHg, P=0.01) than the control. The clustering of patients in social networks around hypertension education has a positive impact on the management of hypertension in minority populations and may help address cardiovascular health disparities.

Incident depression increases medical utilization in Medicaid patients with hypertension

“…While more medical encounters did occur after incident depression, the additional encounters tended to be for nonacute medical care, and there was no significant increase in encounters specifically for cardiovascular or hypertension-related conditions. Our results may agree with evidence in other studies on cardiovascular conditions which suggests that barriers to quality care, such as low social connectivity, low health literacy, or poor health behaviors such as physical inactivity, smoking or medication nonadherence, are largely responsible for mitigating the excess risk associated with depression in CVD patients [3][4][5][6][7]10,43,44]. This study was conducted using data on hypertensive patients from a contemporary Medicaid population in a single U.S. state, thus all study patients were by definition from a relatively homogeneous socioeconomic group and had the same insurance coverage, with presumably equal chance to access medical care, medication therapy or hospital services.…”

African American women's perceptions of the meaning of support groups for improving adherence to hypertension treatment: a conceptual model

“…The first meaning of support groups—information giving/knowledge sharing—is in line with the premise that interaction and engagement among participants in small groups can improve hypertension awareness, education and treatment in individual patients and in their communities. This functional meaning of support groups is congruent with the study findings of Shaya et al (), who evaluated the effects of education administered in social networks on the improvement of HBP in 248 AAs compared with 193 historical controls who received usual care. Participants in the study formed small groups with peers and attended monthly HBP education sessions, focusing on disease education, prevention and treatment.…”

“I have to live like I’m old.” Young adults’ perspectives on managing hypertension: a multi-center qualitative study

“…These mobile health options were considered an intrusion on their recreational activities and increased their concerns of peers being aware of their diagnosis. Social networks using group interactions in middle-aged and older adults have been beneficial in managing hypertension [ 57 ]. However, further research is needed to understand the support resources that meet the needs and protect the self-identity of young adults.…”