Methods |
RCT (randomized by patient) |
Participants |
outpatient hypertension clinic run by clinical pharmacists (patients recruited from two main offices of a group medical practice of general internists and internal medicine subspecialists affiliated with a large community hospital)
patients with uncontrolled hypertension
patients ‐ 1272 (635 intervention, 637 control)
health professional (delivering intervention) ‐ not clear
practice ‐ 2
no unit of analysis error |
Interventions |
targeted towards PATIENTS
pharmacist assessed patients' blood pressure, medication regimen, medication adherence, adverse drug effects and lifestyle habits and provided individualized patient education regarding dietary and life‐style modifications during initial and follow‐up visits vs usual care
targeted towards HEALTH PROFESSIONALS
pharmacist reported findings and treatment recommendations to patients' physicians vs usual care
length of the intervention ‐ not clear
number of interventions ‐ not clear; follow‐up visits scheduled every 2 to 4 weeks at the discretion of the pharmacist over 12 months |
Outcomes |
PATIENT
achievement of blood pressure control based on Joint National Committee on Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure (JNC V) |
Notes |
Total professional visits (pharmacist and physician) in the intervention vs control (8.0 vs 6.6, P = 0.06) |
Risk of bias |
Bias |
Authors' judgement |
Support for judgement |
Allocation concealment? |
Unclear risk |
Not explicitly mentioned |
Blinding?
All outcomes |
Low risk |
Objective outcome assessed |
Follow‐up of professionals? |
Low risk |
Not applicable |
Follow‐up of patients? |
Low risk |
Based on reported data‐of the 197 patients included in the study, data was reported on all 197 patients |
Baseline measurement? |
High risk |
Collected, but statistically significant difference in systolic blood pressure and number of African‐American patients between groups |
Reliable outcome measures? |
Low risk |
Objective outcomes assessed |
Protection against contamination? |
High risk |
Patients recruited from same medical group |