title: The effect of health education on Taiwanese hypertensive patients' knowledge and cognition of stroke.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Hypertension is a risk factor for stroke. Increasing patient knowledge and cognition about stroke among hypertensive patients is essential.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To explore the effect of a health education intervention on the knowledge and cognition of stroke in hypertensive patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  A quasi-experimental design was used with 103 patients with hypertension. The sample was recruited from a cardiologist's outpatient office at a medical center in Kaohsiung city, southern Taiwan. Half the patients (experimental group, n = 52) received health education, whereas the others received only conventional general outpatient care (control group, n = 51). All patients underwent a pretest followed by posttests at 4 and 8 weeks after the intervention. A stroke knowledge scale and stroke cognition scale were used for data collection.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The experimental group scored significantly higher than the control group in level of knowledge and cognition of stroke.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study supports that a health education CD-ROM and printed information provided in the outpatient clinical improves knowledge of and cognition of stroke among hypertensive patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In outpatient clinical practice, nurses can help improve patients' knowledge and cognition of the risks of stroke by playing the health education CD-ROM and providing printed information during the patients' wait time before appointments.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Further studies with a longer follow-up (6 months or 1 year) are needed to evaluate the long-term effects of health education on stroke knowledge and cognition among patients with hypertension.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  An outpatient health education program using a CD-ROM and printed information for hypertensive patients can improve the patients' knowledge and cognition of stroke.
authors: Registered Nurse, Department of Nursing, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan.
authors: Yu-Hsuan
authors: YH
authors: Tang
authors: Chich-Hsiu
authors: CH
authors: Hung
authors: Hsing-Mei
authors: HM
authors: Chen
authors: Tsung-Hsien
authors: TH
authors: Lin
authors: Yi
authors: Y
authors: Liu
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D003071:Cognition; D005260:Female; D006266:Health Education / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D020521:Stroke / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D013624:Taiwan
keywords: cognition; health education; hypertension; knowledge; stroke