Validación de un cuestionario de conocimientos sobre la hipertensión

Abstract

IntroductionHypertension is a chronic disorder and is the main cause of cardiovascular disease. Educational interventions designed to increase knowledge may help hypertensive patients to change unhealthy lifestyles and optimize treatment adherence, thus facilitating better blood pressure control. Consequently, a reliable tool is required to evaluate the effectiveness of these interventions. ObjectiveTo validate a hypertension knowledge questionnaire in Spanish to assess patients’ knowledge and understanding of this disorder. Material and methods1) Adaptation of an existing questionnaire. 2) Focus groups to unify criteria and consultation with experts. 3) Pilot test to evaluate comprehension of the questionnaire. 4) Reliability through internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha) and sensitivity to change (McNemar test). ResultsA final questionnaire was developed in 9 blocks, which included knowledge of hypertension, associated risk factors, risks of hypertension, diet, exercise, and medication. Sixty patients participated: 30 were from primary care centers and the remaining 30 were from specialized centers. The mean age of the participants was 60 years, and 57% (n=34) were women. Cronbach's alpha was 0.799. ConclusionThe questionnaire developed in this study is a reliable and easily applied tool to assess knowledge about hypertension in hypertensive patients. This questionnaire is especially useful to evaluate the effectiveness of therapeutic patient education.