Self-monitoring of blood pressure and self-assessment of self-care: an interview study among patients with hypertension

Managing and controlling hypertension remains a challenge for many patients, underscoring the need for more effective strategies. Although self-monitoring of blood pressure can greatly support the management of hypertension, combining it with questionnaires for self-assessment of self-care might further improve blood pressure control and patients’ health situation. There is extensive research on self-monitoring and self-management but research on the presumed added value of using self-assessment questionnaires in conjunction with self-monitoring of blood pressure, and how patients perceive these methods, remains lacking. Qualitative explorative study design involving 15 semi-structured in-depth interviews with primary care patients with hypertension who self-monitored their blood pressure and who were given a self-assessment questionnaire on self-care of hypertension for review. Data were analysed inductively using reflexive thematic analysis. Self-monitoring of blood pressure promoted increased understanding of one’s body and the self-assessment questionnaire regarding self-care elicited reflection on one’s health situation. This was seen as providing opportunities for patients to actively co-create health and self-care in collaboration with healthcare professionals. The latter were expected to become more engaged and better meet patients’ information needs about the illness and treatment, and to make use of patients’ self-reported data for shared decision-making in hypertension management. Although sustainable self-care is often portrayed as autonomous, it appeared to rely on active support and engagement from healthcare professionals. Self-monitoring of blood pressure combined with self-assessment of self-care was thought to have the potential to promote deeper awareness of personal health and improve the patient-professional relationship. This highlights that sustainable self-care requires quality support and meaningful engagement between patient and healthcare professional, rather than being a completely independent endeavour. Further research could shed light on whether self-monitoring of blood pressure combined with consistent use of self-assessment questionnaires can promote a culture of collaboration and shared decision-making in hypertension care.