Family Medicine & Primary Care Review

Abstract

4/2024 vol. 26
Original paper

The role of telemedicine in the monitoring and control of patients with hypertension during the COVID−19 pandemic: a multicenter study in primary care

Francisco Javier Cuevas Fernández 1, 2
,
Anabela Enebral Quintana 3
,
Olga Tatiana Gómez López 1, 2
,
José Carlos Gutiérrez Galeote 1, 4
,
Antonio Cabrera de León 2, 5
,
Armando Aguirre-Jaime 6
  1. Primary Care Management of Tenerife, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain
  2. Preventive Medicine and Public Health Department, University of La Laguna, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain
  3. Preventive Medicine Service, University Hospital Nuestra Señora de Candelaria, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain
  4. Multiprofessional Teaching Unit for Family and Community Care, Tenerife South Zone, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain
  5. Research Unit of the Primary Care Management and University Hospital Nuestra Señora de Candelaria, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain
  6. Care Research Support Service of the College of Nurses of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain
Family Medicine & Primary Care Review 2024; 26(4): 438–443
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5114/fmpcr.2024.144911
Online publish date: 2024/12/29
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Background

The COVID-19 epidemic overloaded primary care. Telemedicine visits (TV) were promoted to prevent chronic diseases, such as hypertension (HT), from being neglected.

Objectives

To explore the association between number of visits and HT control with an emphasis on TV.

Material and methods

Retrospective follow-up study in seven primary care health centers in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain. Measurements: Gender, age, blood pressure (BP), electrocardiogram, body mass index (BMI), habits and laboratory tests during the period 2019–2021. Logistic regression models estimated the advantage ratio between in-person visits (PV) and TV in HT control, adjusted for gender and age.

Results

In total, 770 patients with HT were analyzed. BP measurement went from 79% in 2019 to 56% in 2020 (p < 0.001) and 58% in 2021 (p = 0.354, between 2020 and 2021). HT control went from 41% in 2019 to 27% in 2020 (p < 0.001) and 31% in 2021 (p = 0.130 between 2020 and 2021). From 2019 to 2020, PV decreased, and TV in-creased. The multivariate analysis retained PV with the family doctor (p = 0.017) and community nurse (p = 0.027) in 2019, TV with the doctor (p = 0.002) and PV with the nurse (p < 0.001) in 2020, and PV with both in 2021, but did not retain age or gender.

Conclusions

A direct association was identified between the frequency of patient visits and the control of their HT; TV with family doctors were useful in this relationship in 2020, which points to the beneficial effect of TV for the care of hypertensive patients when in-person visits were diminished.

Keywords

COVID-19, hypertension, telemedicine

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