New trial will test effectiveness of barbershop hypertension programs

The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute has awarded an $8.5 million grant to a Cedars-Sinai physician to study the effectiveness, feasibility and cost-effectiveness of barbershop hypertension programs in the United States.

The randomized controlled trial will include 500 black men with uncontrolled hypertension who are longtime patrons of 20 participating barbershops in Los Angeles. The study will assess the efficacy of barbershop-based hypertension programs and whether expanding these programs is feasible and cost effective, according to a press release.

“Uncontrolled hypertension is one of the biggest health problems facing the African American community today,” Ronald G. Victor, MD, director of the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute Hypertension Center, stated in the release. “… We need to find a way to reach out to the community and prevent the serious complications caused by high BP because all too often, by the time a patient finds out they have the condition, the heart and kidneys have been damaged.”

The new trial follows a study Victor conducted and published in the Archives of Internal Medicine in 2011. Results indicated that hypertension programs including BP checks during haircuts and encouraged follow-up in barbershops nationwide could result is at least 800 fewer heart attacks, 550 strokes and 900 CV-related deaths within the first year, according to the release.

“We hope that the new trial’s outcomes will show an even greater benefit, while lowering the cost of providing high-quality health care for hypertension in a high-risk population,” Victor said.