title: Effect of self - care education on quality of life in patients with primary hypertension: comparing lecture and educational package.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Hypertension is a dangerous risk factor for public health. It profoundly affects the patients' quality of life. However, there is lack of agreement on the best method for self-care management in patients with hypertension.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study was conducted to compare the effect of lecture and educational pamphlets on quality of life (QOL) in patients with primary hypertension.
  
  
  METHODS
  A quasi-experimental study was performed on 90 patients with chronic primary hypertension referred to two outpatient clinics in Kashan city. Patients were randomly divided into three groups including lecture group, educational package group, and control group. The participants' quality of life was measured using the SF-36 questionnaire at the beginning of the study, and two months later. Data was analyzed using ANOVA and Chi-Square tests.
  
  
  RESULTS
  No significant differences were observed between the three groups for demographics characteristics and QOL before the intervention except for marital status. Mean scores of QOL dimensions of the intervention groups were increased at the end of the study, except for the dimension of bodily pain. Tukey post-Hoc test showed that except for general health, the two intervention groups were not significantly different in other dimensions, and significant differences were observed between the control group and the two intervention groups (P < 0.05). At start and the end of the study, the mean differences in the general health dimension in three groups were 2.25 ± 0.1, 0.07 ± 0.01, and -1.70 ± 0.01 respectively. There were significant differences among groups (P = 0.04).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Lecture and educational package can both improve some dimensions of the QOL in patients with hypertension. However, as pamphlets are cheap and easy to use, this method may be used as an effective method for self-care education in health care settings in Iran, where the system is faced with nursing shortage.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Mohamad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aghajani
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Neda
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mirbagher Ajorpaz
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Mahbube
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kafaei Atrian
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Zahra
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Raofi
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Fatemeh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Abedi
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Sajad
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Naeimi Vartoni
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Akbar
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Soleimani
keywords: Education; Hypertension; Lectures; Quality of Life; Self-Care