Impact of nurse-initiated education on HeartScore in patients with hypertension: a randomised trial.

BACKGROUND

People with hypertension experience significant damage to major organs due to insufficient management of cardiovascular risk factors.

AIMS

To assess the impact of nurse-led educational interventions on the total cardiovascular risk among people with hypertension.

METHOD

the study was an interventional randomised study. The sample (=92) was randomly assigned to the either the control or intervention group. The HeartScore tool was used to assess patients' total cardiovascular risk between December 2017 and March 2018.

FINDINGS

56.6% of the control group and 55.4% of the intervention group were women, with a mean age of 64.4 years and 66.2 years respectively (>0.05). Total cholesterol reduced in both groups; however, improvement was greater in the intervention group (<0.05). Total cardiovascular risk fell in the intervention group from 4.75 to 4.33 (>0.05), while the control group saw an increase in risk from 10.03 to 12.65 (=0.035).

CONCLUSION

Nurse-led educational interventions should be incorporated in the usual care of patients with hypertension, in order to achieve the best management of the condition.