Effect of pharmacist-led interventions on hypertension-related knowledge, medication adherence, and blood pressure control: A multi-center, randomized, controlled trial in Vietnam

Introduction

Hypertension is the single most important leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the Vietnamese population and remains poorly controlled by the current conventional care model.

Objectives

To evaluate whether pharmacist-led interventions can improve hypertension knowledge, medication adherence, and blood pressure (BP) control in Vietnamese patients with hypertension.

Methods

A multi-center, randomized, controlled trial was conducted in three hospitals in Vietnam from October 2021 to May 2022. The educational interventions included direct counseling, printed material, and educational videos for smartphones. The primary outcome was hypertension knowledge assessed by the Hypertension Knowledge-Level Scale (HK–LS). Secondary outcomes were medication adherence as assessed by the Morisky Green Levine Adherence Scale (MGL) and changes in systolic (SBP) and diastolic BP (DBP) at week 12.

Results

A total of 381 patients were included in the study, with 190 and 191 patients in the intervention and control groups, respectively. At week 12, patients in the intervention group had a significantly higher mean HK–LS than the control group (18.97 ± standard deviation [SD] 2.10 vs. 14.98 ± SD 3.55, respectively; p < 0.001). Significantly higher medication adherence was observed in the intervention group than in the control group (MGL score of 3.76 ± 0.52 vs. 3.20 ± 0.87, respectively; p < 0.001). Patients in the intervention group had a significant reduction in mean SBP/DBP (−6.15/−2.58 mmHg) compared with the control group (−0.98/−0.92 mmHg; p < 0.001).

Conclusion

Pharmacist-led interventions resulted in a significant improvement in disease knowledge, medication adherence, and BP control in the Vietnamese context of practice and health system.