Evaluation of patient counseling on blood pressure control of out-patients with hypertension at Chulalongkorn Hospital

Abstract

Patient counseling has a significant effect on compliance with prescription regimens, prevent drug interactions and medication errors. This was a self-controlled experimental study to evaluate the effect of patient counseling on blood pressure control in out-patients with hypertension at Chulalongkorn Hospital. Systolic and diastolic pressure of randomly selected patients were recorded for at least three months before receiving patient counseling. After three months, those patients received counseling on drug, diseases and life-style modification from a pharmacist after a hospital visit and blood pressure was monitored every month for three consecutive months or after each visit. The result showed that 68 patients out of 78 patients could not maintain their blood pressure before receiving counseling. However, after patient counseling, 54 patients had mean arterial pressure within the range specified by the Joint National Committee (JNC VI) after the second doctor visit. Patient counseling was highly significant in blood pressure control using the chi-square test (chi2 = 51.29).