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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2015 Dec 4.
Published in final edited form as: Arch Intern Med. 2012 Jan 23;172(4):322–326. doi: 10.1001/archinternmed.2011.1307

Table.

Baseline Patient Characteristics.

Variable Patient Education Control Group (n=131) Patient Affect Intervention Group (n=125) P Value
Demographic characteristics
 Age, mean (SD), y   59 (12)   57 (12) .19
 Women, %   77   82 .29
 Employed, %   40   43 .33
 Married, %   24   25 .64
 Completed college, %   56   60 .59
Clinical characteristics
 Duration of hypertension, y   11   12 .36
 Systolic BP, mean (SD), mm Hg 140 (17) 135 (19) .05
 Diastolic BP, mean (SD), mm Hg   83 (12)   81 (12) .58
 Uncontrolled hypertension, %   72   64 .14
 Renal disease, %     3     4 .68
 Diabetes, %   34   37 .68
 Stroke, %     8   14 .12
 Charlson comorbidity index, % .12
   0–1   16   30
   2–3   47   35
   >3   37   35
 Depressive symptoms score, meana     8     8 .45
 Positive affect score, meanb 34.5   35 .61
 Negative affect score, meanb   18   19 .74
 Social support score, meanc   75   76 .84
 Perceived stress score, meand   14   14 .65
 Medication adherence score, meane  1.2  1.0 .39
 Nonadherent (self-report), %e   65   60 .83

Abbreviation: BP, blood pressure.

a

Measured by the Center for Epidemiologic Studies of Depression Scale (possible score range, 0–60); higher score means more depressive symptoms.

b

Affect measured by the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (possible score range for each subscale, 10–50); higher score means more of that attribute.

c

Measured by the MOS (Medical Outcomes Study) Social Support Scale (possible score range, 0–100); higher score means more support.

d

Measured by the Perceived Stress Scale (possible score range, 0–40); higher score means more stress.

e

Measured by the Morisky Medication Adherence Questionnaire (possible range, 0–4); higher score means less medication adherence. Patients with a score greater than 1 were categorized as nonadherent.