ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Only one-third of hypertensive patients achieve and maintain blood-pressure control. This is attributed to low treatment adherence and has a negative impact on clinical outcomes. Adherence is multidimensional and involves aspects both related to patient characteristics and to the chronic nature of the disease. In this context, motivational interviewing has been proposed as an approach to foster patients' motivations to change their behavior for the benefit of their own health, thus providing more lasting behavioral changes. DESIGN AND METHODS: Single-center, parallel, randomized controlled trial with outcome-assessor blinding. This study will select adult patients (n = 120) diagnosed with hypertension who receive regular follow-up in a specialized outpatient clinic. Patients will be randomly allocated across two groups: the intervention group will have appointments focused on motivational interviewing, while the control group will have traditional appointments. Patients will be monitored face-to-face, once monthly for six months. The primary outcomes will be a reduction of at least 8 mmHg in systolic blood pressure and changes in mean blood pressure measured by 24-h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring. Secondary outcomes include improvement of adherence to a low-sodium diet, adherence to self-care behaviors, regular use of antihypertensive medications, increase or maintenance of physical activity, weight reduction, evaluation of changes in daytime sleepiness, and cessation of smoking. DISCUSSION: This study shows an intervention strategy that will be tested and, if effective, warrant replication in monitoring of other chronic diseases. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02892929 . Registered on 24 August 2016.
Subject(s)
Antihypertensive Agents/therapeutic use , Blood Pressure/drug effects , Hypertension/drug therapy , Medication Adherence , Motivational Interviewing , Risk Reduction Behavior , Self Care , Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Brazil , Diet, Sodium-Restricted , Exercise , Female , Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice , Humans , Hypertension/diagnosis , Hypertension/physiopathology , Hypertension/psychology , Male , Middle Aged , Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic , Sleep , Time Factors , Treatment Outcome , Weight Loss , Young AdultABSTRACT
For well over a decade, researchers in Porto Alegre, Brazil, have been documenting the extent of the AIDS epidemic in the region, with a specific focus on the linkages between drug use and HIV seropositivity. Virtually all of the studies conducted during those years found injection drug use (IDU) to be the major vector for HIV seropositivity in this population. However, recent research found that the number of IDUs had declined significantly. Qualitative interviews and focus groups suggested many reasons for this decline: (1) many had died, because they had never heard of AIDS or HIV, and were unaware of how HIV is transmitted. As a result, they had become infected through the sharing of injection paraphernalia. (2) The quality of street cocaine had declined, making injection difficult. (3) Because of a fear of AIDS, some shifted to the smoking of crack, which had become a newly availability commodity in the street culture. Within this context, this article describes the qualitative data describing the decline of cocaine injecting and the corresponding emergence of crack use in Porto Alegre, Brazil, and related HIV risks.
