Practice-based Trial of Blood Pressure Control in African Americans

Summary

Poorly controlled hypertension (HTN) remains one of the most significant public health problems in the United States, in terms of morbidity, mortality, and economic burden. Despite compelling evidence supporting the beneficial effects of therapeutic lifestyle changes (TLC) on blood pressure (BP) reduction, their effectiveness remains untested in primary care practices, especially among minority patients who share a greater burden of HTN-related outcomes including chronic kidney disease, stroke and heart failure. This randomized controlled trial offers a unique opportunity to address this gap in the literature. Among 200 hypertensive African-Americans who receive care in community- based primary care practices, we will test the effectiveness of a culturally-tailored comprehensive therapeutic lifestyle intervention, delivered through group-based counseling and motivational interviewing (MINT-TLC) vs. Usual Care (UC). MINT-TLC is designed to help patients make appropriate TLC and develop skills to maintain these changes long-term. Patients in the MINT-TLC group will attend weekly group classes focused on TLC for 12 weeks (intensive phase); followed by individual motivational interviewing (MINT) sessions for 3 months (maintenance phase). Trained research personnel will deliver MINT-TLC with appropriate treatment fidelity procedures. Patients in the UC condition will receive a single individual counseling session on TLC and print versions of the intervention materials. The primary outcome is within-patient change in both systolic and diastolic blood pressure from baseline to 6 months. Secondary outcomes are levels of targeted therapeutic lifestyle behaviors; and proportion of patients with adequate blood pressure control at 6 months

Conditions

• Hypertension
• Physical Activity
• Diet
• Medication Adherence

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes (MINT-TLC)

This intervention is based on established clinical practice guidelines for prevention and treatment of hypertension(HTN), which recommends weight loss (if overweight), limiting sodium and alcohol intake, regular physical activity, reducing alcohol intake, and eating a low-fat diet that is rich in fruit and vegetables. MINT-TLC will be conducted by trained research personnel. Patients will attend 10 classes over 12 weeks (intensive phase) followed by individual monthly MINT sessions for 3 months (maintenance phase). We chose the intervention schedules to pattern after the methodology of therapeutic lifestyle interventions with proven efficacy in hypertensive patients, specifically, Trial of Nonpharmacologic Approaches in Elderly Hypertensives (TONE) and PREMIER trials.

BEHAVIORAL

Usual Care

Patients randomized to the Usual Care (UC) condition will receive standard hypertension (HTN) treatment recommendations as determined by their physicians. In addition, they will receive a 30-minute individual counseling session on therapeutic lifestyle modification, similar to PREMIER. We feel obligated ethically to provide this minimal intervention to patients in the UC group given that counseling on TLC is a standard recommendation for treatment of hypertension. To match the MINT-TLC group for content of intervention material, those in the UC group will receive print versions of the intervention materials.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Columbia University

  collaborator OTHER

• Hebrew Home at Riverdale

  collaborator OTHER

• New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation

  collaborator OTHER

• NYU Langone Health

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Gbenga G Ogedegbe, M.D. · NYU Langone Health

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2010-02-28

Primary Completion

2012-07-31

Completion

2012-07-31

Countries

• United States

Study Locations