To Achieve Blood Pressure Control With Retained Quality of Life

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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The purpose of the study is to get an understanding about what problems patients with hypertension are facing, how they manage these challenges, how they feel and what requirements they believe are important to have in their treatment. These factors will later act as a foundation and incentive for designing an intervention that may result in more patients achieving blood pressure control with maintained quality of life.

Detailed Description
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This is a Swedish observational mixed-methods study to get an understanding about what problems patients with hypertension are facing. The information will act as a foundation for designing an intervention/interventions that may result in more patients achieving blood pressure control with maintained quality of life. Patients, who have well/not well controlled blood pressure, are to fill in questionnaires about their view on ability to perform self-care and their perceived quality of life. Individual interviews will also be made about for what reasons they do or do not change lifestyle as well as take their drugs to treat their hypertension. In focus group interviews the patients are to be asked about what they want and expect in the encounter with health care personnel, what other things outside the health care area would be helpful for the patient and how age, gender, cultural and psychosocial aspects affect the ability to achieve blood pressure control. The developed future interventions will be evaluated in clinical practice.

Official Title
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Possibilities for Patients With Elevated Blood Pressure to Achieve Blood Pressure Control Without Affecting Quality of Life (the PEQ Study)

Conditions
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Hypertension, Patient Compliance

Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: diagnosed with hypertension since 9 months being able to read and speak Swedish Exclusion Criteria: -

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 20 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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No

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Patients: achieved BP control<br>Patients who have achieved blood pressure control (≤140/90 mmHg) | |
| Patients: not achieved BP control<br>Patients who have not achieved blood pressure control (>140/90 mmHg) | |
| Individual interviews<br>Hypertensive patients who have considered changing lifestyle regarding one or more of the areas of tobacco, alcohol, diet, physical activity or stress. | |
| Focus-group interviews<br>Hypertensive patients | |

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Self-care agency | Exercise of Self Care Agency (ESCA) instrument | through study completion, an average of 6 months | 
| Quality of life: SF-36 | Short Form Health Survey, 36 items | through study completion, an average of 6 months | 
| Individual interviews | Semistructured interviews | through study completion, an average of 3 months | 
| Focus-group interviews | Discussions in focus-groups | through study completion, an average of 1 year | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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Hypertension, Blood Pressure Control, Adherence, Mixed Methods