Experiences and Beliefs of Low‐Income Patients With Hypertension in Louisiana and Mississippi During the COVID‐19 Pandemic

Mills, Katherine T.; Peacock, Erin; Chen, Jing; Zimmerman, Amanda; He, Hua; Cyprian, Alecia; Davis, Gerrelda; Fuqua, Sonja R.; Gilliam, Darie S.; Greer, Angelique; Gray‐Winfrey, Lea; Williams, Shondra; Wiltz, Gary M.; Winfrey, Keith L.; Whelton, Paul K.; Krousel‐Wood, Marie; He, Jiang

BACKGROUND: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic disproportionately affects individuals with hypertension and health disparities. METHODS AND RESULTS: We assessed the experiences and beliefs of low‐income and minority patients with hypertension during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Participants (N=587) from the IMPACTS‐BP (Implementation of Multifaceted Patient‐Centered Treatment Strategies for Intensive Blood Pressure Control) study completed a telephone survey in May and June of 2020. Participants were 65.1% Black and 59.7% female, and 57.7% reported an income below the federal poverty level. Overall, 2.7% tested positive and 15.3% had lost a family member or friend to COVID‐19. These experiences were significantly more common in Black (3.9% and 19.4%, respectively) than in non‐Black participants (0.5% and 7.8%, respectively). In addition, 14.5% lost a job and 15.9% reported food shortages during the pandemic. Most participants complied with stay‐at‐home orders (98.3%), social distancing (97.8%), and always wearing a mask outside their home (74.6%). Participants also reported high access to needed health care (94.7%) and prescription medications (97.6%). Furthermore, 95.7% of respondents reported that they continued to take their regular dosage of antihypertensive medications. Among the 44.5% of participants receiving a healthcare appointment by telehealth, 96.6% got the help they needed, and 80.8% reported that the appointment quality was as good as or better than in‐person visits. Finally, 88.9% were willing to return to their primary care clinic. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that low‐income patients, especially Black patients, were negatively impacted by COVID‐19. However, most patients were able to access needed healthcare services and were willing to return to their primary care clinic for hypertension management. REGISTRATION: URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov; Unique identifier: NCT03483662.