A randomised controlled trial of the impact of structured written and verbal advice by community pharmacists on improving hypertension education and control in patients with high blood pressure

Purpose This study was aimed to determine whether structured written and verbal education provided to patients by community pharmacists about high blood pressure (BP) and its treatment would be (a) better retained and (b) be associated with improved BP control as compared to patients receiving verbal advice only. Methods The study was designed as a randomised controlled trial and was conducted in the West Midlands, UK, between January 2014 and June 2014. The primary outcome measures were differences in systolic and diastolic BP from baseline and retention of information about high BP assessed with a questionnaire at 2-, 4- and 26-week follow-up points. Results A total of 64 adults were included in the study. At the week 26 follow-up, compared to participants in the control group, there was a significant improvement in the knowledge of intervention participants about the risks associated with high BP ( p < 0.001) and awareness about potential adverse effects of the new BP medicine ( p < 0.001). Similarly, there was a greater and more significant reduction in systolic BP in favour of the intervention group 8 mmHg (95% CI 2.1–13.3 p = 0.009) compared to 6 mmHg (95% CI 0.6–11.7 p = 0.02) in the control group at the week 4 follow-up. However, this greater effect of an intervention on BP was not sustained at the 26-week follow-up. For diastolic BP, there was no added effect of the intervention. Conclusion This randomised controlled trial suggests that although written advice provided by community pharmacists in comparison to verbal advice was more effective in improving knowledge and understanding of patients about hypertension and its treatment, it did not lead to better blood pressure control.