Clinical trial NCT00987025: Initial Evaluation of Telehealth Blood Pressure Stations in Nutrition Centers
Official title: Technologies for Enhancing Access and Health Management
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Hypertension
Keywords: hypertension
telehealth
nurse monitor
nutrition center
Lead sponsor: LeadingAge
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
name: Wright State University
name: Healthanywhere Inc.
First posted: 2009-09-30
Enrollment: 144
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 55
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: NON_RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Brief summary: The purpose of TEAhM is to determine if telehealth blood pressure stations can be installed and used in senior nutrition centers and to do a preliminary comparison of blood pressure outcomes among nutrition center clients who use the telehealth blood pressure stations compared to participants who do not use the stations. Specifically, the goals of the project are to determine if these monitors can be successfully implemented in this community-based setting, the degree to which older adults with hypertension are comfortable using the technology, and whether remote nurse monitoring of blood pressure using this technology is a feasible supplement to office-based care.

Detailed description: TEAhM will be conducted in four senior nutrition centers in the state of Ohio. Using these facilities as field centers, we will recruit 144 older, hypertensive adults who receive nutrition assistance at these centers. Wright State staff will obtain permission from enrolled participants in the intervention centers to contact primary care physicians for the purpose of obtaining recommended intervention protocols and defining referral criteria for changes in blood pressure treatment. We will install telehealth kiosks at two of the four nutrition centers. Participants who enroll at the two centers with kiosks will be considered "intervention participants" and those who enroll at the two centers without the kiosks will be considered "control participants." The kiosks will enable participants to conduct self-monitoring of their blood pressure at the nutrition facility. Blood pressure data from intervention participants will be sent to a central server managed by Healthanywhere, the telehealth partner in this project. Nurse-researchers from WSU will receive email alerts about out of range blood pressure measures, monitor blood pressure readings once a week, and make referrals for medical care according to criteria defined by participants' primary care physicians at the time of enrollment. Control and intervention participants will receive educational materials on general wellness that are publicly available.

Demographic information, background health, comfort with technology, and baseline blood pressure measures will be collected at baseline in on paper forms by WSU nurse researchers. Follow up blood pressure measures and other health utilization measures and reported health events will be collected from both intervention and control facilities during follow-up phone contacts with study personnel every two months. Blood pressure will be measured for all participants at the end of the study.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Age ≥55 years
* Current use of nutrition center resources ≥1 time/week
* Physician-diagnosed hypertension
* Clinically stable if on oral therapy
* Physician willingness to interact with nurse reviewers (intervention arm only)

Exclusion Criteria:

* Age \< 55 years
* Self-reported dialysis or renal failure
* Cognitive impairment as evaluated by study staff
* Failure to provide consent
* Failure to meet all inclusion criteria

Primary outcomes:
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Proportion of participants with blood pressure within range
timeFrame: 10 months
measure: Number of physician visits
timeFrame: 10 months
measure: Number of emergency department visits
timeFrame: 10 months
measure: Comfort with technology
timeFrame: 10 months
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Bellefontaine
country: United States
facility: Logan County Friendly Senior Center
state: Ohio
city: Miamisburg
country: United States
facility: Miamisburg Senior Adult Center
state: Ohio
city: Spring Valley
country: United States
facility: Spring Valley Senior Center
state: Ohio
city: Urbana
country: United States
facility: Urbana-Champaign County Senior Center
state: Ohio
Study officials:
affiliation: Association of Homes and Services for the Aging
name: Helaine E Resnick, PhD, MPH
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: