Effect of a repeated educational intervention versus an initial intervention on blood pressure control in hypertensive patients.

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: Hypertension is one of the main cardiovascular risk factors. An educational intervention, aimed at increasing or reinforcing the patient's knowledge, can contribute to better control of their blood pressure. Our goal was to evaluate the efficacy of a continuing therapeutic education versus an initial intervention in hypertensive patients.

METHODS: Experimental study of multicenter community intervention, through the application of a therapeutic education program in hypertension.

RESULTS: 980 patients on antihypertensive treatment were included, 490 in each group, with a mean age of 65 years, and 50% women, baseline mean SBP in both groups was136 mmHg. Regarding knowledge about hypertension, although a similar initial improvement was observed in both groups, at the end of the study, in the continuous intervention group (CIG) an average of 23.06 correct answers was observed, while in the Initial intervention group (IIG) the mean was 20.91, being the difference statistically significant (p < 0.001). At the end of the study, the mean SBP was 127.5 mmHg in the CIG and 136.57 mmHg in the IIG group. Likewise, a lower percentage of patients with a BMI ≥25 was observed in the CIG (78.2%) than in the IIG 82.6%, this difference being statistically significant (p < 0.001). This same effect was observed on the abdominal perimeter, observing an increased abdominal perimeter in 46.3% of the CIG compared to 68.8% in the IIG (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIóN: A continuous educational intervention increases the degree of knowledge about hypertension compared to an initial intervention. Likewise, this intervention is associated with an improvement in blood pressure, weight, body mass index and abdominal girth figures.