People enrolled in a large clinical hypertension management trial were half as likely to control their blood pressure if they received care at clinics and primary care practices in low-income areas, according to new research in Journal of the American Heart Association, the Open Access Journal of the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association.
People enrolled in a large clinical hypertension management trial were half as likely to control their blood pressure if they received care at clinics and primary care practices in low-income areas, according to new research in Journal of the American Heart Association, the Open Access Journal of the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association.
Participants in a low-income area had a 25% higher chance of dying from any cause and a 25% higher likelihood of hospitalization and death related to heart failure over the course of the study period, than those receiving care in higher income areas.
In addition, participants at low-income sites also had an 86% higher likelihood of developing end stage kidney disease and were 30% less likely to receive a procedure performed to open the blood vessels to the heart for patients experiencing chest pain or heart attack.
The findings are based on data obtained from the Antihypertensive and Lipid-Lowering Treatment to Prevent Heart Attack Trial (ALLHAT), the largest randomized clinical trial of high blood pressure treatment in North America, which compared the effectiveness of three blood pressure lowering drugs. The study used 140/90 mm Hg as the threshold for high blood pressure, while the American Heart Association recognizes high blood pressure as 130/80 mm Hg.
Read more at American Heart Association
Photo Credit: Bru-nO via Pixabay
