Educational approach for hypertensive people with low educational level

The educational process in the treatment of patients with arterial hypertension is common but, generally exclude from the sample illiterate individuals or those with a low level of schooling. Objective evaluate the effect of an educational program based on group interventions on the health of hypertensive individuals with low level of schooling in a Basic Health Unit in Brazil. Methods This is a educational quasi-experimental study, adapted to the level of schooling of the participants, carried out during a period of 23 weeks. It was evaluated 35 hypertensive individuals submitted to blood pressure (BP) measurement, quality of life (Minichal), adherence to treatment (Martín-Bayarre-Grau), level of knowledge of the disease, physical activity (IPAQ) and anthropometric study evaluation. In addition, for analysis of the data, the sample was divided into two subgroups, according to the participation in the activities: adhered (n = 11) or not adhered (n = 24). Descriptive statistics were used to present the study variables. The WILCOXON test was used to compare before and after and MANN-WHITNEY to compare the two groups, p = 0.05 was considered significant. Results a significant reduction was observed in relation to the systolic BP values: 9.8 mmHg in the adherent subgroup, after the intervention. On the other hand, there was increased 0.7 mmHg among non-adherents. The other evaluations did not change. It should be emphasized that the studied population demonstrated a satisfactory level of knowledge of the pathology since the initial evaluation in both groups. Conclusions the findings suggest that an adapted educational approach could help to control blood pressure levels of hypertensive patients with low educational level. In addition, it was observed that knowledge does not seem to be associated with action, and it is necessary to develop strategies that can increase adherence to therapeutic interventions. Key messages Educational intervention. Low educational level.