Controlled comparison of transcendental meditation and the relaxation response

138

ABSTRACTS:

HIGH

BLOOD PRESSURE CONTROL

A-211 ow coMPAFumOF -mITA!cImANDm REImxmIm ImPaGE WesleyE. Sim, UniversityofN&aska,Iincoln,Nebraska. Cpinions differccmemkg t&he&Eiaacy of b&wioral masures kx .&a prevmticm or treatment of bypwtension. Previous studies have described theeffectimnessof a variety ofbebavioralstrategies for redwingblcodpressure (BP). Amngtbese are TransaendentalMeditation (TN and Benson's Relaxation Response(RR). Definitiveevidence franawzll-contmlled investigationtoccqare *effectinessoftbese W strategiesisnotavailable intbs literature. Inthepresent investigation 27 individuals (age 30-38 years) participatedina controlled trial to determine whether lM or RRtreatmnt strategies muld affect significant positive changesin anu&erofpbysiologicalandpsyclmlogical parareters. Nineparticipantsineachtreatlllentgroup('IM,~,R,andcontrol)~e~~accordingtoage,sexandinitialBPreqqse. Heartrate, systolicBp,diastolic BP,stateanxiety,behaviortype (A/B),andCmnellnkadicalikkxwererecordml duringa ~baselineperiod,afterafo~~tmentperiod,~aftera four-week followup period. Iheresults~ee~luatedusingarepeated~es analysis of vakmce. Hotbtk'IMandRRgroupsskxmlasignificantlylarger* crease (PcO.05) in diastolic BPthan the control group (8, 8, and 1 rmyIg, respectively). Groupdifferenceswmenot significant for systolic BP, heartrate,or behavior type. Etxallsubjects c&x&d, tberewas a significant,negativecomelation

between

systolic

BP and type A behavior

pattern

at baseline

(F -.36,

X0.05).

Theseresults iridicate tbattbeTFland RFtreatmntsutilized for arelatively sbortperiod (4 wks.) producedadecrease in only diastolic BP. lkeeffectswere statistically significant,butperhaps not clinicallymaningfuL. Inaddition, neither treatntmtproducedany "exclusive" benefits. Itwasnotable that systolic El?was inversely related to type A behavior pattern. The relatively small sa@e size is tk only explanation offered for this unusual finding. A-212 IMPROVEDSUCCESSIN TREATMENTOF HYPERTENSIONTHROUGH A MANUAL HYPERTENSIVESURVEILLANCESYSTEM Donald A. Smith, Peter L. Schnall, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Health Center, Bronx, New York Purpose: To develop a simple manual surveillance system which would assist family health workers in follow up and would generate a periodic report by team and physician on the status of their hypertensive population. Method: Two thousand registered adults with hypertension were coded eight teams onto newly designed McBee Cards. On Oct. 1, 1975, all were told they would be monitored as of that date on a quarterly basis for the percentage of their hypertensive population with controlled Three teams BP's (age 20-49:<140/90 mm Hg; age 50+:<160/95 mm Hg). included coding of began active participation on Jan. 1, 1976, which the lowest sifting BP at each visit by the physician, active follow-up and quarterly reports by teams of patients by family health workers, and physicians on the percentage of their patients with controlled BP's. The other five teams did not participate in these activities until Sept. 1977. Results: The three actively participating teame improved the percentage of patients under control from 44% to 66% over a two year period, As of the five non-actively participating teams from 57% to 64%. Sept. 1977 percentage of BP control among the different physicians' Demographic characteristpatient populations ranged from 552 to 76%. ics that clustered in the more well controlled groups were older age, and nearness of address to the health female sex, hispanic ethnicity, center.