Health Promotion Through Community-Based Organizations for Improving Knowledge, Attitude and Practice Pertaining to Hypertension

Abstract

Introduction: Hypertension is a growing health problem. Various approaches have been proposed for control of hypertension. We wanted to evaluate whether supporting and providing health education to comm. unity-based organisation (CBO) members resulted in better Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) pertaining to hypertension when compared to other CBOs. Methodology: This cross-sectional study was conducted in rural central India in September 2014. We randomly selected CBOs under two groups: intervention CBOs supported by medical college and control CBOs not supported by medical college (16 each). A structured, pre-tested, close ended questionnaire was administered to the members (10 from each CBO). Mean of individual scores was considered as CBO’s KAP score. A score of ≥ 14 (total=24) was taken as a good score. Results: Proportion of CBOs with good score was higher in intervention CBOs compared to control CBOs (81% v/s 25%, p<0.002). Overall mean KAP score was 14.0 (SD=1.6). The scores were significantly better in intervention CBOs for overall KAP, knowledge and attitude but not for practice. Conclusion: There is scope to convert the knowledge and attitude into desired practice.

Keywords

• Health Promotion
• Health education
• Hypertension
• Self-Help Groups
• Rural health centre