Intensive two-month intervention on diet and lifestyle in uncontrolled hypertensive patients in a community pharmacy

Abstract

This article assesses the impact of an intensive intervention in community pharmacies (involving diet, salt intake, alcohol and regular physical exercise) on blood pressure in hypertensive, treatment-compliant patients who are not controlled with antihypertensive agents. An 8-week randomised, prospective, experimental study was conducted on an intervention group and control group at community pharmacies in Murcia. The 150 participants had a diagnosis of hypertension not controlled with antihypertensive agents, but with good adherence to treatment. The intervention group’s systolic and diastolic blood pressure (BP) levels fell by 16.08 and 9.95 mm Hg, respectively, and the control group by 1.79 and 0.95 mm Hg, (p < 0.001). By implementing an intensive, short-term intervention on diet and lifestyle, community pharmacists can achieve a significant BP reduction in hypertensive patients who are not controlled with antihypertensive agents