Effectiveness of a Barbershop-Based Program to Improve High Blood Pressure Control and Awareness in Black Men - Full Text View

Sponsors and Collaborators:	National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center Donald W. Reynolds Foundation
Information provided by:	National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:	NCT00325533

Purpose

Black men in the United States have a greater risk of developing high blood pressure than men of any other ethnic or racial group. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a high blood pressure detection and medical referral program conducted by barbers in predominantly Black barbershops at increasing awareness and lowering blood pressure levels among their Black male customers.

Condition	Intervention
Hypertension	Behavioral: Baseline BP Screening Other: Intensive 10-week Blood Pressure Screening

Study Type:	Interventional
Study Design:	Health Services Research, Randomized, Open Label, Active Control, Parallel Assignment, Efficacy Study
Official Title:	Group Randomized Trial of a Barber-Based Intervention to Improve Hypertension Control in Black Men

Resource links provided by NLM:

MedlinePlus related topics: High Blood Pressure

Drug Information available for: BaseLine

U.S. FDA Resources

Further study details as provided by National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI):

Primary Outcome Measures:

Percentage of customers with high blood pressure who achieve recommended systolic and diastolic blood pressure values [ Time Frame: Measured at 12 months ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]

Secondary Outcome Measures:

Customer recognition of elevated blood pressure levels [ Time Frame: Measured at 12 months ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
Number of customers with high blood pressure with a regular medical provider [ Time Frame: Measured at 12 months ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]

Enrollment:	2319
Study Start Date:	May 2006
Study Completion Date:	June 2009
Primary Completion Date:	December 2008 (Final data collection date for primary outcome measure)

Arms	Assigned Interventions
Screening & Enhanced Intervention: Experimental After an intensive 10-week baselne screening, the enhanced intervention group barbers will be trained to measure blood pressure and deliver health messages related to blood pressure control during each customer's visit.	Behavioral: Baseline BP Screening Barbers in the barbershops in the experimental arm will be trained to accurately measure and interpret blood pressure (BP). Each barber will offer a BP check to customers with each haircut, complete an encounter form after each haircut, discuss the BP reading with the customer, identify customers with elevated BP, and refer customers with elevated BP to a regular physician or other primary provider for long-term BP management. Each time a customer with elevated BP goes to a regular medical provider, he receives a free haircut, and the referring barber receives a monetary bonus. Other: Intensive 10-week Blood Pressure Screening Intensive 10-week Blood Pressure Screening
Screening: Active Comparator After the intensive 10-week baseline BP screening (an intervention in itself), the barbershops in the comparison arm received a continual supply of American Heart Association pamphlets on Hypertension in African Americans.	Other: Intensive 10-week Blood Pressure Screening Intensive 10-week Blood Pressure Screening

Arms

Assigned Interventions

Screening & Enhanced Intervention: Experimental

After an intensive 10-week baselne screening, the enhanced intervention group barbers will be trained to measure blood pressure and deliver health messages related to blood pressure control during each customer's visit.

Behavioral: Baseline BP Screening

Barbers in the barbershops in the experimental arm will be trained to accurately measure and interpret blood pressure (BP). Each barber will offer a BP check to customers with each haircut, complete an encounter form after each haircut, discuss the BP reading with the customer, identify customers with elevated BP, and refer customers with elevated BP to a regular physician or other primary provider for long-term BP management. Each time a customer with elevated BP goes to a regular medical provider, he receives a free haircut, and the referring barber receives a monetary bonus.

Other: Intensive 10-week Blood Pressure Screening

Intensive 10-week Blood Pressure Screening

Screening: Active Comparator

After the intensive 10-week baseline BP screening (an intervention in itself), the barbershops in the comparison arm received a continual supply of American Heart Association pamphlets on Hypertension in African Americans.

Other: Intensive 10-week Blood Pressure Screening

Intensive 10-week Blood Pressure Screening

Detailed Description:

High blood pressure affects approximately 35% of Black men in the United States. This may be due to the fact that Black men frequently have an unusually high number of risk factors for high blood pressure, including diabetes, high stress levels, and increased salt intake and sensitivity. While high blood pressure can often be controlled through diet, lifestyle changes, or medication, it is a chronic asymptomatic medical condition for which individuals should remain under the care of a regular medical provider. A predominantly Black barbershop may be an optimum and receptive setting for an intervention that focuses on improving the detection and treatment of high blood pressure among Black men. In this study, barbers, deemed as influential peers, will be trained to continually monitor their customers' blood pressure, deliver health messages designed to change risk perception and ideas about healthcare utilization, and provide social support for changes in healthcare-seeking behavior and blood pressure levels. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a barbershop-based intervention at increasing blood pressure awareness and lowering blood pressure levels among Black male customers. With over 18,000 Black barbershops in the United States, the results from this study may be extremely influential in improving the diagnosis and treatment of high blood pressure in Black men.

This study will enroll Black men who are regular customers at a participating barbershop. Each barbershop will be randomly assigned to either a 10-month intervention group or a control group. Nurses will train the intervention group barbers to measure blood pressure and deliver health messages related to blood pressure control during each customer's visit. Before and after the intervention, study researchers will interview barbers and customers over an 8-week period to collect information on blood pressure control. A 12-month follow-up visit will include assessments of blood pressure levels, customer recognition of elevated blood pressure levels, and the number of customers receiving regular medical care.

Eligibility

Ages Eligible for Study:	18 Years and older
Genders Eligible for Study:	Male
Accepts Healthy Volunteers:	Yes

Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

African American
Regular customer at one of the participating barbershops

Exclusion Criteria:

Does not speak English

Contacts and Locations

Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00325533

Locations

United States, Texas
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Dallas, Texas, United States, 75390-8586

Sponsors and Collaborators

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)

University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center

Donald W. Reynolds Foundation

Investigators

Principal Investigator:

Ronald G. Victor, MD

University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center

More Information

No publications provided by National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)

Additional publications automatically indexed to this study by National Clinical Trials Identifier (NCT ID):

Victor RG, Ravenell JE, Freeman A, Bhat DG, Storm JS, Shafiq M, Knowles P, Hannan PJ, Haley R, Leonard D. A barber-based intervention for hypertension in African American men: design of a group randomized trial. Am Heart J. 2009 Jan;157(1):30-6.

Responsible Party:	University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center ( Ronald Victor, MD: Principal Investigator )
Study ID Numbers:	470, 55341, R01 HL080582-01A2
Study First Received:	May 12, 2006
Last Updated:	July 24, 2009
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:	NCT00325533 History of Changes
Health Authority:	United States: Federal Government

Keywords provided by National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI):

Blood Pressure, High
Blacks
African Americans

Study placed in the following topic categories:

Vascular Diseases
Hypertension

Additional relevant MeSH terms:

Vascular Diseases
Cardiovascular Diseases
Hypertension

ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on September 01, 2009