Background:
High blood pressure (BP) is a well recognized risk factor for ischemic stroke, and aggressive BP control is critical for secondary stroke prevention. However, hypertensive (HTN) outpatients are often found to have uncontrolled BP, in part due to poor compliance with daily at-home BP monitoring and consequent poor medication adherence. Here, we explore the association of patient home BP self-monitoring compliance with stroke recurrence.
Method:
Ischemic stroke patients with pre-existing HTN were prospectively recruited in accordance with IRB protocol for this observational study. All patients were trained on BP self-monitoring as per standard of care, and were asked to monitor BP at home daily consistently for 2 weeks. BP monitoring compliance, per completion of BP log, was assessed at each follow-up clinical visit by an investigator blinded to patient outcome. Stroke recurrence was followed for 5 years and independently adjudicated by two vascular neurologists.
Result:
In a total of 219 patients, only 36 patients (16.4%) were compliant in completing the home BP log as instructed. The compliant and non-compliant groups showed no baseline difference and no medication usage difference (p>0.05) (Table 1). Compliance with at-home BP monitoring was associated with well controlled systolic (p<0.001) and diastolic BP (p<0.001). Of note, 30 patients (16.4%) had recurrent strokes in the non-compliant group, while there were no recurrent strokes in the compliant group. BP self-monitoring compliance is associated with reduced incidence of stroke recurrence (p=0.030) and the significance remains robust after adjusting for multiple confounders (p=0.029) (Table 2).
Conclusion:
Regular home BP monitoring is associated with lower risk of stroke recurrence in HTN stroke patients. Study in expanded patient cohort is ongoing to leverage technology for better home BP monitoring and to create incentives for compliant behavior for better secondary stroke prevention.
Rationale and design of a pragmatic clinical trial to assess the impact of self-monitoring blood pressure at home and self-titration of antihypertensive medication in poorly controlled hypertension: the ADAMPA study protocol
