Helping Hypertension Patients to Interpret Blood Pressure Readings and Motivate Blood Pressure Control

Hypertension is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease, and a leading cause of death worldwide. Only about 50% of hypertension patients have good blood pressure control, perhaps because they find it hard to understand their blood pressure readings. The investigators will evaluate ways to help hypertension patients to interpret their blood pressure readings and motivate blood pressure control. Aim 1: Based on existing communications, the investigators will create 3 blood pressure communications: (A) a basic table showing only the normal blood pressure range, which is often used in clinical practice and online communications about blood pressure, but may make it hard to interpret numbers outside of the normal range, potentially undermining behavior change intentions; (B) an enhanced table showing how combinations of diastolic and systolic blood pressure reflect normal, elevated and hypertension ranges, from the American Heart Association; (C) an enhanced graph to be adapted from Blood Pressure UK to show the same color-coded ranges as the enhanced table, with diastolic blood pressure on the x-axis and systolic blood pressure on the y-axis. Aim 2: : Among 650 diagnosed hypertension patients recruited through the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) Pitt+Me Patient Registry, the investigators will evaluate whether being presented with the enhanced table or graph (vs. basic table) affects patients' self-reported blood pressure measurement (as averaged across two measurements taken at the time of the survey at least 1 minute apart, as per directions of the American Heart Association), and improves interpretations of these two blood pressure readings and of hypothetical blood pressure readings, as well as behavior change intentions. Aim 3: The investigators will examine whether Aim 2 findings vary by health literacy, age, and SES.