A randomized controlled trial on home blood pressure monitoring and quality of care in stage 2 and 3 hypertension

In a 12-week, randomized, controlled trial, we investigated whether home blood pressure monitoring (HBPM) would improve treatment adherence and blood pressure control in stage 2 and 3 hypertension. Eligible patients (18–75 years of age and 160–199/100–119 mmHg of clinic systolic/diastolic blood pressure after a 1-week wash-out) were randomized in a 1:4 ratio to an experimental group (with HBPM) and a control group (without HBPM). All patients started antihypertensive treatment with the irbesartan 150 mg/hydrochlorothiazide 12.5 mg/day combination, with the possible addition of irbesartan 150 mg/day and uptitration to irbesartan 300 mg/hydrochlorothiazide 25 mg/day at 4 and 8 weeks of follow-up, respectively. The primary endpoint was the clinic blood pressure control (systolic/diastolic, nondiabetes <140/90 mmHg and diabetes <130/80 mmHg) rate at 12 weeks of follow-up. The randomized patients in the HBPM (n = 96) and control groups (n = 405) had similar characteristics at baseline and similar use of higher dosages of irbesartan/hydrochlorothiazide (300 mg/12.5–25 mg) at 4 (9.4% vs. 12.2%, P = 0.45) and 8 weeks of follow-up (27.1% vs. 35.5%, P = 0.13). During follow-up, both the cumulative treatment discontinuation rate (1.0% vs. 12.6%, P = 0.0008) and the less optimal treatment adherence rate (<90% of prescribed medication, 1.0% vs. 9.9%, P = 0.005) were significantly lower in the HBPM group than in the control group. The proportion of patients who achieved the goal of clinic blood pressure control at 12 weeks of follow-up was significantly higher in the HBPM group than in the control group (66.7% vs. 55.1%, P = 0.04). In conclusion, HBPM improved treatment adherence and blood pressure control in patients with hypertension, despite similar antihypertensive treatment intensities.