Effectiveness of community-based health education and home support program to reduce blood pressure among patients with uncontrolled hypertension in Nepal: A cluster-randomized trial
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journal contribution
posted on 2022-06-20, 03:16authored byMahesh K Khanal, Pratiksha Bhandari, Raja R Dhungana, Pratik Bhandari, Lal RawalLal Rawal, Yadav Gurung, KN Paudel, Amit Singh, Surya Devkota, Barbora de Courten
Background Hypertension is a major global public health problem. Elevated blood pressure can cause cardiovascular and kidney diseases. We assessed the effectiveness of health education sessions and home support programs in reducing blood pressure among patients with uncontrolled hypertension in a suburban community of Nepal. Methods We conducted a community-based, open-level, parallel-group, cluster randomized controlled trial in Birendranagar municipality of Surkhet, Nepal. We randomly assigned four clusters (wards) into intervention and control arms. We provided four health education sessions, frequent home and usual care for intervention groups over six months. The participants of the control arm received only usual care from health facilities. The primary outcome of this study was the proportion of controlled systolic blood pressure (SBP). The analysis included all participants who completed follow-up at six months. Results 125 participants were assigned to either the intervention (n = 63) or the control (n = 62) group. Of them, 60 participants in each group completed six months follow-up. The