October 29, 2010
Awareness: Blood Pressure Check With That Haircut?
By RONI CARYN RABIN

Barber shops often serve as a pipeline for health information in African-American communities. Now, a study reports a striking success: when barbers checked their male patrons’ blood pressure on every visit, the men were far more likely to see a doctor and get high blood pressure under control. (There was also a financial incentive: a free haircut for those who returned with a prescription.)

The study, published on Monday in Archives of Internal Medicine, was conducted at 17 black-owned barber shops in Dallas County, Tex., over the course of two years, ending in 2008.

Eight shops distributed pamphlets to customers found to have high blood pressure at the start of the study; nine went much further, offering blood pressure checks and urging hypertensive customers to see a doctor.

By the end of the study, more than half of both groups had their blood pressure under control. But the gain was more impressive among those whose barbers checked them at each haircut: 53 percent, from 33 percent at the start of the study, compared with 51 percent, from 40 percent, for those who received pamphlets.

Most customers were regulars who came in every two to four weeks, said the study’s lead author, Dr. Ronald G. Victor, now of Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute. “That sure puts the issue on top of your radar screen,” he said.