title: Application of Healthy Heart program in the two semi-rural areas in Eskişehir.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to raise awareness of people in two semi-rural regions of Eskişehir in terms of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) risk factors and to promote related heart-healthy behaviors.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study was a semi-experimental intervention and featured as a two-phase design. In the first phase of the study, participants received visits at home. Individuals in intervention and control areas were given a participation form that indicated the Framingham Risk Score (FRS). Other training materials were distributed throughout the intervention area. The second phase was planned as a nested case- control study. The first phase included 2.766 persons and the second phase included 778 persons. In the evaluation of the data the Pearson Chi-square and Student's t-test for independent samples, Mc-Nemar Chi-square and the paired t-test for dependent samples were applied.
  
  
  RESULTS
  During the first phase, the frequency of FRS metrics above 10% was 26.2% for males, 18.1% for females in the intervention area, 22.9% for males, and 14.9% for females in the control area. There was no difference between males and females in terms of scoring for control and intervention areas (p>0.05). Based on the FRS data, the second phase revealed a decrease of 15.4% in males (p<0.001) and 10.2% in females (p<0.001) in the intervention area and an increase of 8.2% in males (p=0.011) and 3.8% in females (p=0.078) in the control area.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this study, teaching individuals who were older than twenty years of age about cardiac health seemed to be an effective method for decreasing CVD risk factors.
authors.affiliation: Clinic of Public Health, Burdur Central Community Health Center, Burdur, Turkey. iciarikan@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Inci
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Arıkan
authors.forename: Selma
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Metintaş
authors.forename: Cemalettin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kalyoncu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003153:Community Health Services; D005260:Female; D006293:Health Promotion; D006792:House Calls; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D019035:Rural Health Services; D012424:Rural Population; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult