"To better know hypertension": Educational meetings for hypertensive patients

Background: Pilot educational meetings were conducted to (1) verify the sup port of hypertensive patients in this initiative; (2) test the knowledge of patients regularly followed-up in our Hypertension Centre Outpatient Clini c concerning problems related to hypertension; (3) improve patients knowled ge about hypertension through a formal teaching session, (4) compare the kn owledge of these patients with that of a control group. Methods: An invitat ion to participate in an educational program on hypertension was extended t o 210 consecutive patients (group I) followed-up in the outpatient clinic o f our Hypertension Centre. Each meeting included four sessions: (I) an inte ractive phase with electronic devices aimed at evaluating the degree of inf ormation about hypertension by means of multiple-choice questionnaires, (2) a traditional teaching session, (3) an interactive phase to assess the com pliance to treatment, and (4) a general discussion session. The control gro up (II) included 144 hypertensive patients referred for the first time to o ur Hypertension Centre. Before the initial visit the patients were asked to answer a questionnaire identical to that provided to group I during the me etings. Results: The meetings were attended by 183 out of the 210 patients in group I (participation rate = 87%). The answers to the questions were co rrected as a percentage ranging from 73.7 to 95.6 in group I and from 43.9 to 74.7 in group II (p < 0.01). The provision of more detailed information about problems in hypertension was associated with better compliance to tre atment and blood pressure control. (BP under treatment 138 +/- 14/83 +/- 7 mmHg in group I, 152 +/- 15/91 +/- 1 1 mmHg in group II; (p < 0.01). Conclu sions: Our data indicate that this type of educational approach is apprecia ted by patients (participation rate 87%) and that the level of knowledge ab out hypertension and compliance to treatment are greater in selected patien ts than in control patients.