RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Effectiveness of a community-based education and peer support led by women’s self-help groups in improving the control of hypertension in urban slums of Kerala, India: a cluster randomised controlled pragmatic trial JF BMJ Global Health JO BMJ Global Health FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd SP e010296 DO 10.1136/bmjgh-2022-010296 VO 7 IS 11 A1 P Suseela, Rakesh A1 Ambika, Renjini Balakrishnan A1 Mohandas, Sreelakshmi A1 Menon, Jaideep C A1 Numpelil, Mathews A1 K Vasudevan, Beena A1 Ved, Rajani A1 Danaei, Goodarz A1 Spiegelman, Donna YR 2022 UL http://gh.bmj.com/content/7/11/e010296.abstract AB Background With less than 20% of people with hypertension achieving their target blood pressure (BP) goals, uncontrolled hypertension remains a major public health problem in India. We conducted a study to assess the effectiveness of a community-based education and peer support programme led by women’s self-help group (SHG) members in reducing the mean systolic BP among people with hypertension in urban slums of Kochi city, Kerala, India.Methods A cluster randomised controlled pragmatic trial was conducted where 20 slums were randomised to either the intervention or the control arms. In each slum, participants who had elevated BP (>140/90) or were on antihypertensive medications were recruited. The intervention was delivered through women’s SHG members (1 per 20–30 households) who provided (1) assistance in daily hypertension management, (2) social and emotional support to encourage healthy behaviours and (3) referral to the primary healthcare system. Those in the control arm received standard of care. The primary outcome was change in mean systolic BP (SBP) after 6 months.Results A total of 1952 participants were recruited—968 in the intervention arm and 984 in the control arm. Mean SBP was reduced by 6.26 mm Hg (SE 0.69) in the intervention arm compared with 2.16 mm Hg (SE 0.70) in the control arm; the net difference being 4.09 (95% CI 2.15 to 4.09), p<0.001.Conclusion This women’s SHG members led community intervention was effective in reducing SBP among people with hypertension compared with those who received usual care, over 6 months in urban slums of Kerala, India.Trial registration number CTRI/2019/12/022252.Data are available upon reasonable request. Data collected for the study, including individual deidentified participant data and a data dictionary defining each field in the set, study protocol, informed consent forms will be made available to others for a period of three years from the date of publication of the article, with a signed data access agreement and on due approval from the institutional ethics committee of Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, India, on submission of request to the principal investigator explaining the purpose for which the data will be used along with other relevant supporting documents.