Southeastern Collaboration to Improve Blood Pressure Control

Blood pressure (BP) control is defined as systolic pressure less than 140 mm Hg and diastolic pressure less than 90 mm Hg. Difference in BP control at 12 month follow-up between trial arms. BP was assessed in the practice by a research assistant using a standardized protocol at baseline, 6, and 12 months.

Change in systolic blood pressure between baseline and 12 months, which is analyzed by subtracting the baseline systolic BP from the 12 month systolic BP.

Patient Assessment of Care for Chronic Conditions (PACIC) measures how patients perceive their chronic condition(s) are being managed by their health care team. Patients fill out a survey of 20 questions regarding the care of their chronic condition(s) over the last 12 months. Used a Likert scale from 1-5, where 1 signifies "None of the time" and 5 signifying "Always". PACIC was scored by summing participants' responses across all 20 items then dividing by 20. This score was calculated at baseline and 12 months follow-up. A change in score for each participant was created by subtracting the 12 months follow-up PACIC score from the baseline PACIC score.

Change in health related quality of life measured using self report scale Short form-12. Six questions comprise the PCS. Of the six questions, one question ranges on a 5 point Likert scale from excellent to poor. Two questions range on a 3 point Likert scale from a lot to not at all. Two questions are dichotomous as yes or no. One question ranges on a 5 point Likert scale from extremely to not at all. Different weights are applied to each item to results in scores ranging from 0-100 with higher scores indicating higher functioning.

Change in health related quality of life measured using self report scale Short form-12. Six questions comprise the MCS. Of the six questions, two questions are dichotomous as yes or no. One question ranges on a 5 point Likert scale from all of the time to none of the time. Three questions range on a 6 point Likert scale from all of the time to none of the time. Different weights are applied to each item to result in a score ranging from 0-100 with higher scores indicating higher mental functioning.

Outcome was defined by self-reported question (yes/no) or chart review. Those who reported yes to the question, "In the past 6 months have you been seen in an ER/ED but not admitted overnight" were considered having the outcome. Data collectors looked for ED visits in patient's charts between baseline and 6 month visit. The outcome measure timeframe is between baseline and 6 months.

Outcome was defined by self-reported question (yes/no) or chart review. Those who reported yes to the question, "In the past 6 months have you been seen in an ER/ED but not admitted overnight" were considered having the outcome. Data collectors looked for ED visits in patient's charts between their 6 month and 12 month follow-up. The outcome measure timeframe is between 6 months and 12 month follow-up.

Outcome was defined by self-reported question (yes/no) or chart review. Those who reported yes to the question, "In the past 6 months have you been hospitalized overnight?" were considered having the outcome.

Data collectors looked for hospitalization in patient's charts between baseline and 6 month visit. The outcome measure timeframe is between baseline and 6 months.

Outcome was defined by self-reported question (yes/no) or chart review. Those who reported yes to the question, "In the past 6 months have you been hospitalized overnight?" were considered having the outcome. Data collectors looked for hospitalizations in patient's charts between their 6 month and 12 month follow-up. The outcome measure timeframe is between 6 months and 12 month follow-up.

The 4-item Cohen perceived stress scale that are measured on a 5-point scale (0 = never, 1= almost never, 2 = sometimes, 3 = fairly often and 4- very often). Items 2 and 3 are reverse coded and then all for items are summed to created a total score that ranges from 0 -16. A higher score is negative indicating greater perceived stress.

Self-reported stroke was defined as participants reporting yes to the question: Since the last time we spoke, were you ever told by a physician that you had a stroke?

We measured change in perceived instrumental support between baseline and 12 months using the Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) short-form social functioning scale. To each question subjects were asked to respond with "never," "rarely," "sometimes," "usually," or "always." A numerical value was attached to each of these answers, ranging from 1 ("never") to 5 ("always"). Raw scores were translated to standardized t-scores to allow comparison of our sample to the U.S population. "). The T-score rescales the raw score into a standardized score with a mean of 50 and a standard deviation (SD) of 10. Raw scores ranged from 4-20. Scale scores ranged from 29.3-69.3 with a higher score indicating greater instrumental support.

We measured change perceived emotional support between baseline and 12 months using the Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) short-form social functioning scale. To each question subjects were asked to respond with "never," "rarely," "sometimes," "usually," or "always." A numerical value was attached to each of these answers, ranging from 1 ("never") to 5 ("always"). The T-score rescales the raw score into a standardized score with a mean of 50 and a standard deviation (SD) of 10. Raw scores were translated to standardized t-scores to allow comparison of our sample to the U.S population. Raw scores ranged from 4-20 and scale scores ranged from 25.7-62 with higher scores indicating greater emotional support.

We measured change in isolation between baseline and 12 months using the Social Isolation Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) short-form social functioning scale. To each question subjects were asked to respond with "never," "rarely," "sometimes," "usually," or "always." A numerical value was attached to each of these answers, ranging from 1 ("never") to 5 ("always"). Raw scores were translated to standardized t-scores to allow comparison of our sample to the U.S population. The T-score rescales the raw score into a standardized score with a mean of 50 and a standard deviation (SD) of 10. The scale is comprised of 4 items. Raw scores range from 0-20 and scale scores range from 34.8-74.2. Higher scores indicate greater isolation.