Educational Intervention As A Strategy For Improving Blood Pressure Status Of Market Women In Lagos, Nigeria.

Abstract

Sustained high blood pressure is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in our society. The usefulness of educational intervention for improving the blood pressure status of market women was assessed in this interventional community based study. The socio-demographic data, blood pressure, body mass index (BMI) and awareness of the blood pressure status of the subjects were documented. Counseling of the respondents on hypertension, risk factors, drug compliance and life style modification took place within 3 months. The results showed that 59% of the respondents were unaware of their BP status, 21.5% were discovered to have elevated blood pressure. Among those found to be hypertensive only 30.2% were on medication and none of them had effective BP control. At post intervention, all (100%) of the subjects now had good knowledge of their BP status and 86.05% had effective control of their B.P. Lifestyle modification of respondents including their body mass index also slightly improved post intervention. This study establishes that blood pressure status of individuals in the community could be enhanced by an educational intervention strategy.