Department of Public Health, Center for Global Health, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
Faculty of Medicine, Rural Clinical School, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Glob Heart. 2017 Sep;12(3):227-232. doi: 10.1016/j.gheart.2016.09.003. Epub 2017 Mar 13.
Health literacy and attitudes of female community health volunteers (FCHV) toward hypertension management in the context of Nepal are not well understood. Therefore, it is important to explore the potential for the effectiveness for blood pressure screening and perceptions on their likely ability to promote a blood pressure reduction at community level.
The study aims to explore the knowledge and attitudes of FCHV related to hypertension prevention and control.
A cross-sectional survey was conducted with FCHV located inside Lekhnath municipality. A total of 113 FCHV were interviewed in the survey using a questionnaire on knowledge and attitudes related to hypertension and risk factors.
The percentages of FCHV with low, medium, and high levels of knowledge about hypertension were 43%, 24%, and 31%, respectively. Almost all of the respondents considered hypertension a major problem in their community and they would like to receive training for blood pressure screening. No significant differences were observed in the knowledge and attitudes related to hypertension in relation to demographic characteristics of FCHV. A majority of FCHV agreed that smoking (69.8%), alcohol (77.8%), low physical activity (42.4%), high salt intake (65.4%), high fat intake (78.7%), and genetics (53.9%) are major risk factors for hypertension.
Our study demonstrates that there is a background need to improve the health literacy for blood pressure management. There is also a need for development and implementation of a community-based intervention aimed at mobilizing female community health volunteers for detection and management of hypertension at the community level in Nepal. Our study demonstrated a high level of interest and readiness for blood pressure prevention, control, and management in community settings.
尼泊尔女性社区卫生志愿者（FCHV）在高血压管理方面的健康素养和态度尚不清楚。因此，探索血压筛查的有效性以及他们在社区层面促进血压降低的可能性能力非常重要。
本研究旨在探讨 FCHV 与高血压预防和控制相关的知识和态度。
在 Lekhnath 市内部对 FCHV 进行了横断面调查。使用与高血压和危险因素相关的知识和态度问卷对 113 名 FCHV 进行了调查访谈。
FCHV 对高血压的知识水平低、中、高的比例分别为 43%、24%和 31%。几乎所有受访者都认为高血压是他们社区的主要问题，他们希望接受血压筛查培训。FCHV 的知识和态度与人口统计学特征之间没有观察到与高血压相关的显著差异。大多数 FCHV 同意吸烟（69.8%）、饮酒（77.8%）、低体力活动（42.4%）、高盐摄入（65.4%）、高脂肪摄入（78.7%）和遗传（53.9%）是高血压的主要危险因素。
我们的研究表明，需要提高血压管理的健康素养。还需要制定和实施一项以社区为基础的干预措施，旨在动员女性社区卫生志愿者在尼泊尔社区一级发现和管理高血压。我们的研究表明，社区环境中对血压预防、控制和管理有很高的兴趣和准备。
