title: Impact of a community based intervention program on awareness, treatment and control of hypertension in a rural Panchayat, Kerala, India.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Community based intervention to control hypertension is extremely limited in India. We conducted this study to find the effectiveness of a community based intervention program on the awareness, treatment and control of hypertension.
  
  
  METHODS
  A baseline survey was conducted among 4627 adults aged ≥30 years (men 44%) selected by cluster sampling. Information was collected using a structured interview schedule by trained local volunteers. They measured weight, height, waist circumference and blood pressure using standard protocol. The volunteers monitored blood pressure at least once a month and educated the people in neighborhood groups on the need for regular medication and reducing risk factors of hypertension for a period of six years. A post intervention survey was conducted among 2263 adults aged ≥30 years (men 49%). Stepwise logistic regression analysis was done to find the odds of change in awareness, treatment and control of hypertension.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The odds of awareness (OR 4.18, 95% CI 3.44-5.08), treatment (OR 3.44 CI 2.81-4.22) and control (OR 4.39 CI 3.36-5.73) of hypertension increased significantly in the post intervention survey compared to the baseline survey. Baseline hypertension prevalence of 34.9% (CI 33.8-36.1) was reduced to 31.0% (CI 29.1-32.9) in the post intervention survey based on age adjusted analysis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our community based intervention using trained community based volunteers could increase awareness, treatment and control of hypertension among adult hypertensives.
authors.affiliation: Professor and Head, Achutha Menon Centre for Health Science Studies, Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, Trivandrum 695011, India. Electronic address: kavumpurathu@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: K R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Thankappan
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sivasankaran
authors.forename: G K
authors.initials: GK
authors.lastname: Mini
authors.forename: Meena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Daivadanam
authors.forename: P S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Sarma
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Abdul Khader
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000959:Antihypertensive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001364:Awareness; D001795:Blood Pressure Determination; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D003153:Community Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D015994:Incidence; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D015397:Program Evaluation; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012424:Rural Population; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
chemical_list: D000959:Antihypertensive Agents
keywords: Community based intervention; Hypertension; Impact; India; Kerala