December 5, 2024

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A research team from The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and College of Medicine will study approaches to postpartum blood pressure control among Ohio patients, as part of a $12.5 million three-state study.

The United States ranks lowest among high-income countries for maternal health. Comparative clinical effectiveness studies can help provide data on care for conditions that are well-known to impact maternal health and mortality such as hypertensive disorders and diabetes during pregnancy.

“This study is of tremendous interest and importance to the obstetric community as we seek evidence-based strategies to reduce cardiovascular risk in the postpartum period,” said Maged Costantine, MD, a maternal fetal medicine physician and the study’s co-lead investigator at Ohio State.

The trial, called Self-Monitoring and Responsive Technology for Postpartum Blood Pressure control (SMART Postpartum BP), is a multi-center randomized trial that will compare the effectiveness of two postpartum blood pressure management strategies to improve blood pressure and cardiac function while increasing patient engagement and feeling of control over their health.

Funded by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), the University of Pennsylvania will be the study’s lead site.

Study design
The trial plans to enroll 670 patients with a hypertensive disorder during pregnancy. Enrolled participants requiring blood pressure medication after delivery will be assigned one of two telemedicine interventions. One study group will monitor their blood pressure at home, while patients in the other group will manage their blood pressure with oversight from their care team. Additionally, the study will look at the effects of these two strategies to optimize cardiovascular health at one year after delivery.

At Ohio State, the study will be led by Costantine and William Grobman, MD, an adjunct professor in the division of maternal fetal medicine, and a research team including cardiologist Lauren Hassen, MD, Jennifer Bevans from the College of Pharmacy, and Shaylyn Vickers, MSN, APRN, from maternal fetal medicine.

About PCORI
This study was selected through PCORI’s highly competitive review process in which patients, caregivers and other stakeholders join scientists to evaluate proposals.

Ohio State’s award has been approved pending completion of PCORI’s business and programmatic review and issuance of a formal award contract.

PCORI is an independent, nonprofit organization authorized by Congress with a mission to fund patient-centered comparative clinical effectiveness research that provides patients, their caregivers and clinicians with the evidence-based information they need to make better-informed health and health care decision.

Media Contact: Mary Ellen Fiorino, Mary.Fiorino@osumc.edu

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