The effect of health education on taiwanese hypertensive patients' knowledge and cognition of stroke

Background: Hypertension is a risk factor for stroke. Increasing patient knowledge and cognition about stroke among hypertensive patients is essential. Aims: 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. Discussion: 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. Implications for Practice: 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. Linking Evidence to Action: An outpatient health education program using a CD-ROM and printed information for hypertensive patients can improve the patients' knowledge and cognition of stroke.