• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.568-578
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• 2003

This study was conducted to estimate the effects of self-care program on knowledge and symptoms related hypertension self-care and physiological index in essential hypertensive patients aged between 35-74 year. The subjects for the experiment group and the control group of this study were 70 men and women selected through random sampling from adults at Sangju Red Cross Hospital in Gyeongsanbuk-do, and the experiment was carried out during the period from the 15th of September to the 30th of April in 2002. This study measured systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP, DBP, the mean value of the two measures) and total cholesterol (TC) and surveyed the subjects' diet and life style in relation to hypertension using a self-report questionnaire. In order to study the significance of the effects of self-care program, the author carried out t-test, paired t-test, ANCOVA, chi-square analysis and effectiveness index (EI) analysis. Results of the study are as follows: The experiment group got higher mean scores than the control group in the degree of low sodium intake and the degree of high calcium and high potassium intake, and the difference was statistically significant(P<0.05). The effectiveness index of the self-care program in smoking was 0.797 at the 1st posttest and 0.601 at the 2nd posttest, and in physical activities 0.600 at the 1st posttest and 0.849 at the 2nd posttest. The rate of regular antihypertensive drugs intake of the experimental group was higher than that of the control group. and the effectiveness index of the self-care program was 0.715. The mean score of the systolic blood pressure of the experimental group was lower than that of the control group, and the difference was statistically significant(P<0.05). In conclusion, these findings support usefulness of self-care programs in reducing systolic blood pressure and in promoting self-care related to diet and life style for treating and preventing hypertension.