Current and potential providers of blood pressure self-screening: a mixed methods study in Oxfordshire.
BMJ Open
; 7(3): e013938, 2017 03 22.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-28336742
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES:
To (1) establish the extent of opportunities for members of the public to check their own blood pressure (BP) outside of healthcare consultations (BP self-screening), (2) investigate the reasons for and against hosting such a service and (3) ascertain how BP self-screening data are used in primary care.DESIGN:
A mixed methods, cross-sectional study.SETTING:
Primary care and community locations in Oxfordshire, UK.PARTICIPANTS:
325 sites were surveyed to identify where and in what form BP self-screening services were available. 23 semistructured interviews were then completed with current and potential hosts of BP self-screening services.RESULTS:
18/82 (22%) general practices offered BP self-screening and 68/110 (62%) pharmacies offered professional-led BP screening. There was no evidence of permanent BP self-screening activities in other community settings.Healthcare professionals, managers, community workers and leaders were interviewed. Those in primary care generally felt that practice-based BP self-screening was a beneficial activity that increased the attainment of performance targets although there was variation in its perceived usefulness for patient care. The pharmacists interviewed provided BP checking as a service to the community but were unable to develop self-screening services without a clear business plan. Among potential hosts, barriers to providing a BP self-screening service included a perceived lack of healthcare commissioner and public demand, and a weak-if any-link to their core objectives as an organisation.CONCLUSIONS:
BP self-screening currently occurs in a minority of general practices. Any future development of community BP self-screening programmes will require (1) public promotion and (2) careful consideration of how best to support-and reward-the community hosts who currently perceive little if any benefit.Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Self Care
/
Blood Pressure Determination
/
Health Care Surveys
Type of study:
Clinical_trials
/
Diagnostic_studies
/
Observational_studies
/
Prevalence_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
/
Qualitative_research
/
Risk_factors_studies
/
Screening_studies
Limits:
Humans
Country/Region as subject:
Europa
Language:
En
Journal:
BMJ Open
Year:
2017
Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
United kingdom