Patient education and follow-up as an intervention for hypertensive patients discharged from an emergency department: a randomized control trial study protocol

摘要

BackgroundPersistently elevated blood pressure (BP) is a leading risk factor for cardiovascular disease development, making effective hypertension management an issue of considerable public health importance. Hypertension is particularly prominent among African Americans, who have higher disease prevalence and consistently lower BP control than Whites and Hispanics. Emergency departments (ED) have limited resources for chronic disease management, especially for under-served patients dependent upon the ED for primary care, and are not equipped to conduct follow-up. Kiosk-based patient education has been found to be effective in primary care settings, but little research has been done on the effectiveness of interactive patient education modules as ED enhanced discharge for an under-served urban minority population.