Published online Dec 26, 2022. doi: 10.4330/wjc.v14.i12.626
Peer-review started: August 13, 2022
First decision: September 5, 2022
Revised: September 11, 2022
Accepted: November 22, 2022
Article in press: November 22, 2022
Published online: December 26, 2022
Processing time: 127 Days and 10.9 Hours
One of the efforts to reduce hypertension rates in the community is through an educational campaign that refers to the NIH's National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute curricula or abbreviated as NHLBI. However, during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, one of the hardest hit areas is health promo
To evaluate the impact of the virtual anti-hypertensive educational campaign towards knowledge, attitude, and the practice of hypertension management in the primary care setting during the COVID-19 pandemic.
An online action research with a randomized crossover-controlled trial using a pretest-posttest control group design. The study was conducted in October 2020-April 2021. The population in this study were patients with hypertension who were treated in the Mojo primary health care setting. A purposive sampling technique was done to receive 110 participants using an online questionnaire and invitation letter.
A total of 110 participants were included in the analysis, 55 in the intervention group and 55 in the control group. Following the Virtual Anti-Hypertensive Educational Campaign implementation, the only parameter that showed significant improvement was knowledge and attitude (P < 0.001). There is no significant change in the practice parameters (P = 0.131).
The Virtual Anti-Hypertensive Educational Campaign implementation in our study population seems to be effective to improve knowledge and attitude of participants, nevertheless, this program seems to be ineffective to improve the practice of hypertension management aspect in participants. Future study with longer durations and more comprehensive programs need to be done to scrutinize the clinical impact of this program nationwide.
Core Tip: In the unprecedented times of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, many offices shut down across the world. Onsite classes and events were postponed and as a result, the educational health campaign has changed dramatically. With the distinctive rise of e-learning, health campaigns can be undertaken remotely by digital platforms. With this sudden shift away from the conventional campaign, in many parts of the globe, some are wondering whether the adoption of virtual learning will continue to persist post-pandemic and how such a shift would impact the perception and transfer of knowledge towards hypertensive patients. To keep the community safe, but still well-informed about the dangers of hypertension and how to build a healthy lifestyle, we decided to create a Virtual Anti-Hypertensive Educational Campaign. The importance of this paper is to evaluate the impact of the Virtual Anti-Hypertensive Educational Campaign towards knowledge, attitude, and the practice of hypertension management in the primary care setting during the COVID-19 pandemic.