▪ Abstract Hypertension is the leading cause of cardiovascular disease worldwide. Prior to 1990, population data suggest that hypertension prevalence was decreasing; however, recent data suggest that it is again on the rise. In 1999–2002, 28.6% of the U.S. population had hypertension. Hypertension prevalence has also been increasing in other countries, and an estimated 972 million people in the world are suffering from this problem. Incidence rates of hypertension range between 3% and 18%, depending on the age, gender, ethnicity, and body size of the population studied. Despite advances in hypertension treatment, control rates continue to be suboptimal. Only about one third of all hypertensives are controlled in the United States. Programs that improve hypertension control rates and prevent hypertension are urgently needed.

https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/pdf/10.1146/annurev.publhealth.27.021405.102132

Hypertension: trends in prevalence, incidence, and control.

There is continuing interest among practitioners, policymakers and researchers in the evaluation of complex interventions stemming from the need to further develop the evidence base on the effectiveness of healthcare and public health interventions, and an awareness that evaluation becomes more challenging if interventions are complex. We undertook an analysis of published journal articles in order to identify aspects of complexity described by writers, the fields in which complex interventions are being evaluated and the challenges experienced in design, implementation and evaluation. This paper outlines the findings of this documentary analysis. The PubMed electronic database was searched for the ten year period, January 2002 to December 2011, using the term “complex intervention*” in the title and/or abstract of a paper. We extracted text from papers to a table and carried out a thematic analysis to identify authors’ descriptions of challenges faced in developing, implementing and evaluating complex interventions. The search resulted in a sample of 221 papers of which full text of 216 was obtained and 207 were included in the analysis. The 207 papers broadly cover clinical, public health and methodological topics. Challenges described included the content and standardisation of interventions, the impact of the people involved (staff and patients), the organisational context of implementation, the development of outcome measures, and evaluation. Our analysis of these papers suggests that more detailed reporting of information on outcomes, context and intervention is required for complex interventions. Future revisions to reporting guidelines for both primary and secondary research may need to take aspects of complexity into account to enhance their value to both researchers and users of research.

/pdf/challenges-to-evaluating-complex-interventions-a-content-44oh2x20sr.pdf

Challenges to evaluating complex interventions: a content analysis of published papers

BACKGROUND

Effective control of hospital glucose improves outcomes, but little is known about hospital management of diabetes.



OBJECTIVE

Assess hospital-based diabetes care delivery.



DESIGN

Retrospective chart review.



SETTING

Academic teaching hospital.



PATIENTS

Inpatients with a discharge diagnosis of diabetes or hyperglycemia were selected from electronic records. A random sample (5%, n = 90) was selected for chart review.



MEASUREMENTS

We determined the percentage of patients with diabetes or hyperglycemia documented in admission, daily progress, and discharge notes. We determined the proportion of cases with glucose levels documented in daily progress notes and with changes in hyperglycemia therapy recorded. The frequency of hypoglycemic and hyperglycemic events was also determined.



RESULTS

A diabetes diagnosis was recorded at admission in 96% of patients with preexisting disease, but daily progress notes mentioned diabetes in only 62% of cases and 60% of discharge notes; just 20% of discharges indicated a plan for diabetes follow-up. Most patients (86%) had bedside glucose measurements ordered, but progress notes tracked values for only 53%, and only 52% had a documented assessment of glucose severity. Hypoglycemic events were rare (11% of patients had at least one bedside glucose 200 mg/dL). Despite the frequency of hyperglycemia, only 34% of patients had their therapy changed.



CONCLUSIONS

Practitioners were often aware of diabetes at admission, but the problem was often overlooked during hospitalization. The low rate of documentation and therapeutic change suggests the need for interventions to improve provider awareness and enhance inpatient diabetes care. Journal of Hospital Medicine 2006;3:151–160. © 2006 Society of Hospital Medicine.

/pdf/diabetes-care-in-the-hospital-is-there-clinical-inertia-x7ihg0qlgv.pdf

Diabetes care in the hospital: Is there clinical inertia?

ObjectiveTo study factors associated with therapeutic inertia in treating hypertension and to develop a predictive model to estimate the probability of therapeutic inertia in a given medical consultation, based on variables related to the consultation, patient, physician, clinical characteristics, a

Factors associated with therapeutic inertia in hypertension: validation of a predictive model.

Clinical inertia in the pharmacological management of hypertension: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Hypertension control is a difficult goal to achieve in common practice even when its benefits have been widely proved. We assessed the effectiveness of a Complex Antihypertensive Intervention Program in the Elderly (CAPE). A program trial of 500 elderly hypertensive patients was conducted. 250 were followed by primary care physicians and intervened by the CAPE and 250 received usual care. The program included an organizational change with the addition of an office where patients had their blood pressure measured, were appointed to join educational sessions and received verbal and printed advice before medical attendance. Data was systematically recorded in the electronic medical record which functioned as a physician reminder during the visit. Differences in systolic blood pressure level and in percentage of well-controlled (<140/90 mm Hg) patients between groups were measured after 12 months of follow-up. The difference of mean change in systolic blood pressure between groups was 7.1 mm Hg (95% confidenc...

Narrowing the gap in hypertension: effectiveness of a complex antihypertensive program in the elderly.

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Narrowing the gap in hypertension: effectiveness of a complex antihypertensive program in the elderly.