The Effects of Hypertension Health School Program on Hypertension-related Knowledge, Self-efficacy, Self-care Behavior and Physiological Parameters in Hypertensive Patients

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of hypertension health school program performed in a public health center located in Y-si. Most interesting were the effects on hypertension-related knowledge, self-efficacy, self-care behavior and physiological parameters for hypertensive patients. Methods: Nonequivalent control group pretest-posttest design was employed. 45 patients with hypertension living in Y-si were assigned into an experimental group (n=23) or a control group (n=22). Experimental group was provided with the 8-weeks hypertension health school program from April 7 to May 20 in 2014. Data were analyzed with SPSS/WIN 21.0 using descriptive statistics, <TEX>x²</TEX>-test, Fisher's exact test and t-test. Results: The result indicated a significant difference between the experimental group and control group in the scores of hypertension-related knowledge (t=-10.97, p<.001), self-efficacy (t=-4.56, p<.001), self-care behavior (t=-407, p<.001), physiological parameters including systolic blood pressure (t=2.18, p=.032) and diastolic blood pressure (t=2.74, p=.008) and cholesterol levels (t=5.04, p<.001). Conclusion: The conclusion of this study is that the hypertension self-help group program has a significant effect on the change of hypertension-related knowledge, self-efficacy and self-care behavior for hypertensive patients.