Life Style Associated Risk Factors of Hypertension and the Effectiveness of Nurse Directed Educational Intervention on Knowledge Regarding the Prevention and Management of Hypertension among Railway Employees

Hypertension is one of the leading causes of death world-wide and is one of the biggest health challenges in the 21st century.^1,2 Hypertension increases the risk for a variety of cardiovascular diseases, including stroke, coronary artery disease, heart failure, and peripheral vascular disease³. Lifestyle factors can greatly contribute to hypertension, and actions towards their modification will certainly decrease the risk for developing the disease⁴.

The aim of the study was to assess the lifestyle associated risk factors for hypertension and to determine the effectiveness of Nurse directed educational intervention

Methodology of the present study included an exploratory survey in phase I and pre experimental, one group pre test- post design in the phase II. 100 railway employees were selected using convenience sampling technique. In phase I, lifestyle associated risk factors of railway employees for hypertension was assessed by using lifestyle risk assessment tool. In phase II, knowledge of railway employees regarding prevention and management of hypertension was assessed using SKQ. Nurse directed educational intervention on prevention and management of hypertension was done for railway employees.

The results of the study revealed that 44% of railway employees were having moderate risk for hypertension. Findings also revealed that Nurse directed educational intervention on prevention and management of hypertension was an effective strategy to increase the knowledge of railway employees as indicated by the computed ‘t’ value which was statistically significant at 0.05 level of significance (t(99) =.678; p<0.05).

Nurse directed educational intervention was effective in increasing the knowledge of railway employees and the study findings stresses the increasing responsibility of health professionals in planning and implementing various educational strategies to improve the knowledge of railway employees.