Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Home Monitoring of Blood Pressure: Patients´ Perception and Role of the Pharmacist

Iman A Basheti , Ayman Khdair

Department of Clinical Pharmacy & Therapeutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, Applied Science University, Amman, Jordan;

For correspondence:- Iman Basheti Email: driman@asu.edu.jo Tel:+962799048003

Received: 4 December 2013 Accepted: 10 September 2014 Published: 24 November 2014

Citation: Basheti IA, Khdair A. Home Monitoring of Blood Pressure: Patients´ Perception and Role of the Pharmacist. Trop J Pharm Res 2014; 13(11):1947-1951 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v13i11.25

© 2014 The authors.
This is an Open Access article that uses a funding model which does not charge readers or their institutions for access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) and the Budapest Open Access Initiative (http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read), which permit unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited..

Abstract

Purpose: To explore the use of the blood pressure monitors by hypertensive patients in Jordanian homes and investigate their effect on emotional status and disease management, and the role of the pharmacist in this regard.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted over two months in 2012, in Amman, Jordan. Participants visiting cardiovascular clinics were approached and asked to answer a validated questionnaire. One hundred patients with doctor-diagnosed hypertension were recruited into the study. The questionnaire investigated the role of the pharmacist regarding the use of the blood pressure home measuring devices, patients’ emotional response to their blood pressure readings and actions taken in response. Completed questionnaires were encoded and the data were analyzed using SPSS (version 17).

Results: A majority of the patients (82 %) use home measuring monitors to monitor their blood pressure at home. The pharmacist was reported as the health care professional mostly responsible for counseling patients on the proper use of blood pressure monitors (50 %) and delivering needed relevant education (56 %). A majority of participants suffer from anxiety (68 %) in response to high blood pressure readings. The main follow-up management performed by participants in response to elevated blood pressure was physical activity (40 %).

Conclusion: Most hypertensive patients in Jordan use home blood pressure monitors; however, home self-measurement showing high blood pressure readings cause many patients to feel anxious. Pharmacists take the lead in educating patients in this regard.

Keywords: Jordan, Hypertension, Blood pressure monitor, Pharmacist