Health education: the effects of an educational program on the health of hypertensive patients with low educational level

Abstract

Abstract Funding Acknowledgements Type of funding sources: Public grant(s) – National budget only. Main funding source(s): FAPEMIG Introduction Health education is one of the most complete practices for supporting of patients with chronic diseases such as hypertension. It is important, however, to investigate which strategies would be more assertive in this process, depending on the objective and profile of the patient. Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of an interactive educational program on the health of hypertensive patients with low educational level in a Basic Health Unit in Brazil. Methods: This is an almost experimental study, with a multidisciplinary approach, with 6 months of duration. Interactive workshops were held where topics related to hypertension, such as: pathophysiology, complications, drug and non-drug therapeutic approach and lifestyle change. It is important to emphasize that the work used interactive and playful sessions, such as games, videos and group dynamics. The sample consisted of 35 hypertensive individuals submitted to blood pressure (systolic = SBP and diastolic = DBP) measurement, quality of life (Minichal), adherence to treatment (Martín-Bayarre-Grau), level of knowledge of the disease, physical activity (IPAQ) and anthropometric study evaluation. In addition, for analysis of the data, the sample was divided into two subgroups, according to the participation in the activities: adhered (n = 11) or not adhered (n = 24). Initially, descriptive statistics were used to present the study variables. Subsequently, the WILCOXON test was used to compare before and after and MANN-WHITNEY to compare the two groups, p = 0.05 was considered significant. Results: No significant difference was found relating the initial data in the two subgroups. After the educational program, a significant reduction was observed in relation to the SBP values: 9.8 mmHg in the adherent subgroup. On the other hand, there was increased 0.7 mmHg among non-adherents. The other evaluations did not change. It should be emphasized that the studied population demonstrated a satisfactory level of knowledge of the pathology and the therapeutic process necessary since the initial evaluation in both groups. Such finding, however, was not related to adherence to treatment. Conclusion: the findings suggest that an adapted educational approach could help to control blood pressure levels of hypertensive patients with low educational level. In addition, it was observed that knowledge does not seem to be associated with action, and it is necessary to develop strategies that can increase adherence to therapeutic interventions.