Intervention
hypertension, Hypertension
HYPERTENSION, HYPERTENSION
In the intervention group, the family doctor established with each patient a reference arm to measure blood pressure and an individualized BP target. These individualized goals were decided by the physician in conjunction with the patient, who received the European Society of Hypertension (ESH) and the European Society of Cardiology’s (ESC) 2013 guidelines for the management of hypertensionParticipants proceeded to self-adjust, without any additional contact with their family doctor, other health workers, or coaches, when SBP or DBP was above the target for four or more days of the first week of the month. The self-adjustment had to be followed continuously until the following appointment with the doctor, which was 3 weeks after beginning the self-adjusted regimen (entailing strong patient empowerment). At the subsequent follow-up, a new tailored self-management plan was provided. Apart from the intervention of self-adjustment, all patients received routine hypertension care with appointments and medication changes following the family doctor’s criteria in the context of routine clinical practice. All relevant concomitant care within the usual clinical practice was at the discretion of the attending family physician.Participants in the control group were informed by their family doctor that they would continue their usual care. Next, a member of the research team recorded additional baseline data (not recorded at the moment of inclusion) and provided patients with the “Control group booklet,” containing general information and basic recommendations for improving BP control, as well as monthly registration sheets to record BP-related healthcare encounters during the two consecutive follow-up periods (at 6 months and 12 months from baseline). The control group received routine hypertension care with appointments and medication changes following the family doctor’s criteria in the context of routine clinical practice. As in the intervention group, all relevant concomitant care within the usual clinical practice was at the discretion of the family doctor.