Outcomes of a multi-community hypertension implementation study: the American Heart Association's Check. Change. Control. program.

Single-site, intensive, community-based blood pressure (BP) intervention programs have led to BP improvements. The authors examined the American Heart Association's Check. Change. CONTROL: (CCC) program (4069 patients/18 cities) to determine whether BP interventions can effectively be scaled to multiple communities, using a simplified template and local customization. Effectiveness was evaluated at each site via site percent enrollment goals, participant engagement, and BP change from first to last measurement. High-enrolling sites frequently recruited at senior residential institutions and service organizations held hypertension management classes and utilized established and new community partners. High-engagement sites regularly held hypertension education classes and followed up with participants. Top-performing sites commonly distributed BP cuffs, checked BP at engagement activities, and trained volunteers. CCC demonstrated that simplified community-based hypertension intervention programs may lead to BP improvements, but there was high outcomes variability among programs. Several factors were associated with BP improvement that may guide future program development.

Improving patients' understanding of terms and phrases commonly used in self-reported measures of sexual function.

INTRODUCTION: There is a significant gap in research regarding the readability and comprehension of existing sexual function measures. Patient-reported outcome measures may use terms not well understood by respondents with low literacy. AIM: This study aims to test comprehension of words and phrases typically used in sexual function measures to improve validity for all individuals, including those with low literacy. METHODS: We recruited 20 men and 28 women for cognitive interviews on version 2.0 of the Patient-Reported Outcome Measurement Information System(®) (PROMIS(®) ) Sexual Function and Satisfaction measures. We assessed participants' reading level using the word reading subtest of the Wide Range Achievement Test. Sixteen participants were classified as having low literacy. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: In the first round of cognitive interviews, each survey item was reviewed by five or more people, at least two of whom had lower than a ninth-grade reading level (low literacy). Patient feedback was incorporated into a revised version of the items. In the second round of interviews, an additional three or more people (at least one with low literacy) reviewed each revised item. RESULTS: Participants with low literacy had difficulty comprehending terms such as aroused, orgasm, erection, ejaculation, incontinence, and vaginal penetration. Women across a range of literacy levels had difficulty with clinical terms like labia and clitoris. We modified unclear terms to include parenthetical descriptors or slang equivalents, which generally improved comprehension. CONCLUSIONS: Common words and phrases used across measures of self-reported sexual function are not universally understood. Researchers should appreciate these misunderstandings as a potential source of error in studies using self-reported measures of sexual function. This study also provides evidence for the importance of including individuals with low literacy in cognitive pretesting during the measure development.