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EVALUATING BLOOD PRESSURE AND HYPERTENSION PROGRAMMING IN MUNICIPAL WORKERS IN THE SOUTHEAST

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Chronic hypertension increases a person’s risk for stroke and heart disease, which are two leading causes of death in the United States. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine if an incentive-based traveling health fair influenced the blood pressure or hypertension awareness in municipal employees. METHODS: Incentive-based traveling health fairs took place at four different municipal worksite locations within a southeastern rural community. These fairs, which happened during shift changes, consisted of ~15-minute interactions, a brief survey, health measurements, and consultation. The brief interaction consisted of the employee self-selecting health behaviors that they were willing to focus on for the next six weeks. The researcher gave the employee an informational handout on the topic, answered any questions, and discussed making small changes. During the six weeks between health fairs, target hypertension messaging was sent via employee email. Topics included physical activity, nutrition, sleep, stress management, and smoking cessation. Blood pressure was measured using an automated blood pressure cuff (OMRON), while hypertension awareness was measured through the BASIS Hypertension Awareness and Insight Scale. Forty municipal employees provided data before and after the health fairs. The average age of participants was 34.38±9.89 years old. Paired samples t-test was used to compare the changes in blood pressure and awareness scores, and Spearman correlation were used to estimate the correlation between them. RESULTS: There was a significant decrease in systolic blood pressure (SBP) by 6.55±1.80 mmHG on average (p val=0.0001; Mean Pre [M1]=132.73 ± 13.08; Mean Post [M2]=126.18 ± 14.20; Effect Size [ES]=-3.64,). Diastolic blood pressure (DBP) was also significantly lower in post-measurement by 3.50 ± 1.47 mmHG (p =0.022; M1=83.11 ± 11.86 mmHg; M2=79.60 ±12.11 mmHg; ES=-2.38). There was no statistically significant changes in the Hypertension Awareness score (p val=0.949; M1=3.57±1.96; M2=3.64±1.41, ES=-0.02). Spearman correlation showed no significant correlation between the change in awareness score and changes in SBP and DBP (ρ=0.230; p val=0.172 and ρ=0.051; p val=0.766, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Targeted hypertension awareness programming was effective in achieving clinically significant changes in blood pressure.

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