Effect of Pharmacist Home Visits on Weight Control in Overweight Elderly Hypertensive African American Patients: Managing Your Blood Pressure (My Bp) Program

Objective: The objective was to investigate the effect of a home-based pharmacy intervention on body mass index (BMI) in a cohort of older hypertensive overweight African American (AA) patients.

Design: A secondary analysis of data collected in a community-based intervention study.

Setting: Community-based.

Participants: AA patients, ≥ 65 years old, residing independently, with hypertension diagnosis and BMI ≥ 25.

Interventions: During a 6month period, patients received 1) two in-home pharmacist-led consultations on weight management, 2) bi-weekly telephone counseling, and 3) health education strategies.

Main Outcome Measures: BMIs at baseline and 6 months; stages of behavioral change in diet and exercise based on the Transtheoretical Model.

Results: At baseline and 6-month follow-up, a total of 153 participants had BMI ≥ 25 and received a completed assessment of behavioral stages. Participants’ mean age was 74.2 years. A reduction of BMI from 31.7 (obese) at baseline to 29.8 (overweight) at 6-months (p=0.0008) was observed. For every stage of improvement in diet, there was a reduction of 1.24 points in BMI (p=0.008). For every stage of progress in exercise, there was a reduction of 0.77 points in BMI (p=0.013).

Conclusion: Pharmacists-led in-home consultations coupled with telephone follow-ups and health education strategies may improve lifestyle and lower BMIs in this cohort. Further studies are needed to investigate these strategies on weight management in geriatric patients with chronic illnesses.