Cardiovascular health self-care program for adults: Findings from six-months follow-up

Objective (s): Awareness of risk factors for cardiovascular diseases is essential for prevention. The current study aimed to assess cardiovascular self- assessment and self-care among Iranian adults before and after an intervention. Self-assessment and self-care play important roles in improving the population health. Methods: This was a before-after interventional study on a sample of middle-age (30 to 59 years old) samples who randomly were assigned to the intervention and control groups. The intervention group received an educational program while the control grouped received nothing. The study groups completed a self–assessment and a self–care questionnaires at two points in time: once before the study commence and once six months after intervention. The study compared the self–assessment and self–care using Chi square and logistic regression analyses. Results: In all 1470 participants were studied. About 66% were female, and about 90% were married. In all instances the intervention group showed improvements compared to the control group (P<0.05). For instance, knowledge on cardio vascular health assessment, detecting cardio vascular risk factors and action to prevent risk factors all were improved among intervention group compared to control group (p<0.05). Conclusions: The continuous implementation of this health program could play an important role in maintaining and improving the cardiovascular health. Additional studies are needed to assess the long-term effects of the intervention.