Table I.
Characteristics of the Patient Sample
| % or Mean (SD) | |
|---|---|
| Patient characteristics | |
| Age, y | 63.5 (11.3) |
| White race | 56.9 |
| Education: college or more | 23.9 |
| Education: some college or vocational school | 24.4 |
| Education: high school degree or less | 51.7 |
| Employment status: work part‐time or full‐time | 28.9 |
| Employment status: retired | 54.0 |
| Employment status: not currently working | 17.0 |
| Financial status: enough for special things | 37.0 |
| Financial status: enough for bills, little for special things | 40.7 |
| Financial status: enough for bills if cut back | 11.8 |
| Financial status: difficulty paying bills | 9.7 |
| Has diabetes | 37.4 |
| Hypertension for >10 y | 46.2 |
| Hypertension for 6–10 y | 16.6 |
| Hypertension for ≤5 y | 28.6 |
| No. of medication side effects (range, 0–13) | 5.0 (3.1) |
| Hypertension knowledge (range, 0–10) | 8.6 (1.2) |
| Perceived seriousness (range, 1–4) | 3.5 (0.7) |
| Perceived control (range, 1–4) | 3.1 (0.4) |
| Literacy (range, 0–66) | 57.5 (12.6) |
| Medical regimen–specific recall (range, 0–11) | 7.9 (2.6) |
| Perceived stress (range, 1–5) | 2.9 (1.3) |
| Mental health status (range, 0–100) | 51.9 (12.4) |
| Social environment characteristics | |
| Married | 68.5 |
| Lives alone | 21.1 |
| Emotional support is available | 80.5 |
| Instrumental support is available | 91.2 |
| Blood pressure | |
| Systolic blood pressure | 138.4 (17.6) |
| Diastolic blood pressure | 75.4 (11.3) |
| Blood pressure control | 43.6 |