The effectiveness of telemedicine for blood pressure control for patients with hypertension in the island area, Ranong Province
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Abstract
BACKGROUND: Currently, telemedicine is increasingly being used in medical care. For hypertensive patients, it has been found that telemedicine can reduce blood pressure lower than conventional treatment. In other countries, telemedicine is widely used for patients in remote areas with inconvenient access to services or high congestion in service. However, in Thailand, there is still no comparative data in island areas.
OBJECTIVE: To compare blood pressure control, waiting times and patient satisfaction between hypertensive patients in island areas who received telemedicine versus conventional care.
METHODS: This quasi-experimental study used a two-group pre-test/post-test design. The sample group is hypertensive patients in the island area, including both controlled and uncontrolled case, who registered for treatment at Ranong Hospital from October 2023 to September 2024. A comparative study was conducted between the telemedicine group (n=35) and conventional group (n=35), selected through simple random sampling. The study period was 6 months. Data were analyzed using paired t-test, independent t-test and Fisher’s exact test.
RESULTS: Before the experiment, the two groups showed no significant differences in baseline characteristics. After the experiment, the telemedicine group had a significant decrease in systolic blood pressure (147.8±18.8 vs. 144.4±14.9, p=0.046). When comparing between groups, systolic and diastolic blood pressure were not significantly different (144.4±15.0 vs. 146.1±19.9, p=0.695 and 82.8±9.2 vs. 82.7±9.4, p=0.700). The number of patients with controlled blood pressure increased, but remained lower than those with uncontrolled blood pressure. The telemedicine group had a significantly shorter waiting time (50.3±12.0 vs. 119.6±24.3, p<0.001) and significantly higher service satisfaction at the 0.05 level (74.3±8.3 vs. 69.5±11.8, p=0.050).
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: The results of treating hypertensive patients with telemedicine were not different from conventional care. This is consistent with domestic and international studies that have found that the number of people who could control their blood pressure increased. Thus, telemedicine should be applied in the care of hypertensive patients at the primary care, especially in remote areas with limited and inconvenient access to services, and it also helps alleviate overcrowding in healthcare facilities.
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