Clinical outcomes of pharmaceutical care intervention in HIV positive patients with hypertension: A randomized controlled study

Abstract

What is known and objective: Pharmaceutical care (PC) has been shown to improve clinical outcomes in hypertensive patients as well as in people living with HIV (PLWHV). The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of PC on blood pressure (BP) control, viral load and adherence to medications in hypertensive PLWHV.

Methods: This was a prospective, randomized controlled study conducted in the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. Eligible ambulatory patients were randomized equally to two study arms. The control arm (CA) received the traditional care offered at the HIV clinic; the intervention arm (IA) received the traditional care in addition to PC by the research pharmacist, which included structured education/counselling. BP and self-reported medication adherence were measured at baseline, 6 months and 12 months. Viral load was obtained at baseline and after 12 months. Data were analysed with spss, version 25.0.

Results and discussion: Of the 206 participants initially randomized, 182 (91 in each study arm) completed the 12-month follow-up. No significant differences existed in both arms concerning socio-demographic/clinical characteristics of participants at baseline (p > 0.05). After 12 months, BP control was significantly higher in the IA (53.4% vs. 25.2%; p < 0.001, adjusted odds ratio, aOR = 3.20 (95% CI 1.59-6.44). Systolic BP reduced by 0.9 mmHg from baseline in the CA (p = 0.668) and by 16.67 mmHg from baseline value in the IA (p < 0.001). Diastolic BP increased by 1.9 mmHg in the CA (p = 0.444), but reduced by 7.0 mmHg in the IA (p < 0.001). No significant differences were observed in the change from baseline in the proportion with undetectable plasma viral load (UPVL) in both groups (p > 0.05). PC led to an increase in mean adherence to antiretroviral drugs (Δ = 0.55; p = 0.015), and an increase in mean adherence to antihypertensive drugs (Δ = 2.32; p < 0.001) in the IA.

What is new and conclusion: To our knowledge, this is the first prospective randomized controlled study evaluating the impacts of PC on clinical outcomes in hypertensive PLWHV with a 12-month follow-up. Our results show that PC significantly improved BP control and adherence to antiretroviral and antihypertensive medications, but had no significant effect on viral load in HIV positive patients with hypertension. Providers of care for PLWHV should leverage the established HIV treatment successes for promoting adherence to treatment for common comorbidities like hypertension in PLWHV in order to improve clinical outcomes.

Keywords: HIV; comorbidity; hypertension; pharmaceutical care; randomized controlled trial.