Home Monitoring of Blood Pressure: Patients’ Perception and Role of the Pharmacist

Purpose: To explore the use of the blood pressure monitors by hypertensive patients in Jordanian homes and investigate their effect on emotional status and disease management, and the role of the pharmacist in this regard.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted over two months in 2012, in Amman, Jordan. Participants visiting cardiovascular clinics were approached and asked to answer a validated questionnaire. One hundred patients with doctor-diagnosed hypertension were recruited into the study. The questionnaire investigated the role of the pharmacist regarding the use of the blood pressure home measuring devices, patients’ emotional response to their blood pressure readings and actions taken in response. Completed questionnaires were encoded and the data were analyzed using SPSS (version 17).
Results: A majority of the patients (82 %) use home measuring monitors to monitor their blood pressure at home. The pharmacist was reported as the health care professional mostly responsible for counseling patients on the proper use of blood pressure monitors (50 %) and delivering needed relevant education (56 %). A majority of participants suffer from anxiety (68 %) in response to high blood pressure readings. The main follow-up management performed by participants in response to elevated blood pressure was physical activity (40 %).
Conclusion: Most hypertensive patients in Jordan use home blood pressure monitors; however, home self-measurement showing high blood pressure readings cause many patients to feel anxious. Pharmacists take the lead in educating patients in this regard.