[The ZANyCONTROL study. The role of the pharmacy]

Abstract

Objective: To compare blood pressure levels measured in the pharmacy with those obtained in the patient's home or Primary Care centres (doctor's surgery or treatment room).

Method: Multicentre, open-label, observational, and medium-term follow-up study.

Location: Primary Care in the Spanish healthcare system.

Participants: 206 general or family practitioners who consecutively selected a maximum of 10 patients each; 1,588 patients were recruited. INTERVENTIONS AND MAIN MEASUREMENTS: Home blood pressure (BP)monitoring, measurements taken in clinics (doctor's surgery and treatment room) and pharmacies (usual apparatus and validated Omrom M4); ambulatory monitorization was performed on 190 patients (model Spacelab 90207).

Results: 1,399 patients were included (50.4% women), with a mean age of 60.1 (standard deviation [SD]: 9.7) years. BP values obtained in doctor's surgeries were significantly higher than those obtained in treatment rooms, pharmacies and at home (P < 0.01 in all cases). The smallest differences were observed between the pharmacy and home measurements, with 0.69 (SD: 8.1) for the systolic BP (p = 0.007) and 0.15 (SD: 5.48) for diastolic BP (p = 0.370).

Discussion: The ZANyCONTROL study supports the idea that BP measurements taken on hypertensive patients in the pharmacy properly reflect their real BP; it is an accessible and effective method for measuring blood pressure. It is important that the sphygmomanometer in the pharmacy is validated and works correctly.