BACKGROUND Hypertension is a leading cause of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality worldwide, yet blood pressure control rates remain suboptimal in many populations. Effective blood pressure control requires individuals to adopt and maintain healthy lifestyle behaviors and adhere to treatment plans, which can be challenging when health literacy is limited. Nutbeam’s framework conceptualizes health literacy as comprising functional, interactive, and critical levels, each enabling individuals to access, understand, and apply health information to make informed health decisions. Integrating structured health literacy programs with web-based applications may enhance patients’ ability to acquire credible information, critically appraise health resources, and implement strategies that support blood pressure reduction. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to evaluate the preliminary effects of a combined health literacy program and web-based application on health literacy, health behaviors, and blood pressure among adults with hypertension. METHODS A pilot quasi-experimental study with repeated measures was conducted among participants recruited from two communities in Bangkok, Thailand. The intervention group received an 8-week health literacy program integrated with a mobile-friendly web-based application. The control group received usual care. Outcomes included health literacy, health behaviors, and blood pressure. Data were collected at baseline, postintervention, and follow-up. Repeated measures ANCOVA, adjusting for hypertension duration, was used for analysis. RESULTS A total of 58 participants completed the study (n=28 experimental, n=30 control). After adjusting for the covariate, the experimental group demonstrated significantly higher adjusted mean scores across all time points for health literacy (F=44.37; P CONCLUSIONS The combined health literacy program and web-based application led to significant improvements in health literacy, all measured health behavior domains, and SBP; however, DBP changes were not significant in pairwise comparisons. These findings support the integration of theory-based health literacy interventions with digital tools to promote hypertension-related behavioral change and blood pressure reduction. Larger trials with longer follow-up periods are warranted in order to confirm and extend these results.
Sukpattanasrikul et al. (Tue,) studied this question.
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