Associations between daily home blood pressure measurements and self-reports of lifestyle and symptoms in primary care: the PERHIT study

OBJECTIVE: To explore in a primary care setting the associations between patients' daily self-measured blood pressure (BP) during eight weeks and concurrent self-reported values of wellbeing, lifestyle, symptoms, and medication intake. We also explore these associations for men and women separately.

DESIGN AND SETTING: The study is a secondary post-hoc analysis of the randomised controlled trial PERson-centeredness in Hypertension management using Information Technology (PERHIT). The trial was conducted in primary health care in four regions in Southern Sweden.

PATIENTS: Participants ( n  = 454) in the intervention group in the PERHIT-trial used an interactive web-based system for self-management of hypertension for eight consecutive weeks. Each evening, participants reported in the system their wellbeing, lifestyle, symptoms, and medication adherence as well as their self-measured BP and heart rate.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Association between self-reported BP and 10 self-report lifestyle-related variables.

RESULTS: Self-reported less stress and higher wellbeing were similarly associated with BP, with 1.0 mmHg lower systolic BP and 0.6/0.4 mmHg lower diastolic BP ( p  < 0.001). Adherence to medication had the greatest impact on BP levels (5.2/2.6 mmHg, p  < 0.001). Restlessness and headache were also significantly associated with BP, but to a lesser extent. Physical activity was only significantly associated with BP levels for men, but not for women.

CONCLUSION: In hypertension management, it may be important to identify patients with high-stress levels and low wellbeing. The association between medication intake and BP was obvious, thus stressing the importance of medication adherence for patients with hypertension.