Nurse-led, telephone-based secondary preventive follow-up benefits stroke/TIA patients with low education: a randomized controlled trial sub-study

BACKGROUND: The objective of this study was to analyze the impact of two forms of secondary preventive follow-up on the association between education level and levels of blood pressure (BP) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) after stroke/transient ischemic attack (TIA). METHODS: We included a population-based cohort of 771 stroke and TIA patients randomly assigned (1:1) to secondary preventive follow-up within primary health care (control) or nurse-led, telephone-based follow-up (intervention) between January 1, 2010, and December 31, 2013, as part of the NAILED (nurse-based age-independent intervention to limit evolution of disease) stroke risk factor trial. We compared BP and LDL-C levels 12 months after hospital discharge in relation to education level (low, ≤10 years; high, >10 years) separately for the intervention and control groups. RESULTS: Among controls, systolic BP (SBP) decreased only among the highly educated (−2.5 mm Hg, 95% confidence interval (CI) −0.2 to −4.8), whereas LDL-C increased in the low-education group (0.2 mmol/L, 95% CI 0.1 to 0.3). At 12 months, controls with low education not more than 70 years of age had higher SBP than controls of the same age with high education (5.8 mm Hg, 95% CI 1.0 to 10.6). In contrast, SBP in the intervention group decreased similarly regardless of education level, LDL-C decreased among those with low education (−0.3 mmol/L, 95% CI −0.2 to −0.4) and, in the subgroup not more than 70 years old, low-educated participants had lower LDL-C at 12 months than those with high education (0.3 mmol/L, 95% CI 0.1 to 0.5). CONCLUSIONS: Nurse-led, telephone-based secondary preventive follow-up led to comparable improvements in BP across education groups, while routine follow-up disfavored those with low education. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN Registry ISRCTN23868518, June 19, 2012 - Retrospectively registered.