Authors: Jing Chen, Jiang He
This study tested a village doctor-led strategy to control blood pressure (BP) in rural China over 36 months. Village doctors, who provide basic primary care, managed hypertension through a stepped-care protocol, delivering medications, and offering health coaching on lifestyle changes and BP monitoring. In 326 villages, patients aged 40 and older with high BP were randomly assigned to receive the intervention or usual care. At the end of the study, 72.5% of patients in the intervention group had BP under control, compared to 11.7% in the control group. The intervention group saw significant decreases in both systolic and diastolic BP, with no serious adverse events reported. The results show that this village doctor-led strategy effectively reduces BP and could be expanded to other rural areas in China and similar low- and middle-income countries.
Link: Long-term effectiveness of a village doctor-led multifaceted strategy on blood pressure control: a cluster randomized trial
Resource Topic: Blood Pressure
Resource Type: Cluster Randomized Trial
Year: 2024
Region: Asia
Country: China
Publisher May Restrict Access: Yes