Investigation of the effects of group discussion on the empowerment of patients with hypertension who were referred to two health centers in Tehran in ۱۳۹۰

Background & Objective: Control of hypertension is based on lifestyle modification. Group discussion can be considered as an efficient method for health education. Therefore, this study was aimed to determine the effect of group discussion on the empowerment of patients with hypertension who were referred to two health centers in Tehran. Method: This was a pretest-post test, quasi-experimental study in a group. The convenience sampling method was used by randomly selecting ۳۶ patients with primary hypertension, aged ۳۰-۶۵ years. They were divided into ۴ groups of ۹ people. Since the comparison of groups was not taken into consideration, they were not homogenized. For each group, six ۹۰-minute group discussion sessions were held. The tools included demographic information checklists and verbal empowerment questionnaire of Elhani et al with the scale of perceived intensity, perceived susceptibility, efficacy, and control axis. The data were calculated and analyzed using descriptive statistics and paired t-test. Results: The average age of the subjects was ۵۴ ± ۸.۴ years and ۳۴.۴% of the participants had a history of hypertension for ۵ years. Group discussions could lead to improve the average empowerment of individuals (P=۰.۰۴). Furthermore, among all the aspects of empowerment, group discussions had the greatest impact on the perception and sensitivity levels (P=۰.۰۰۱ and P=۰.۰۲ respectively). Conclusion: In patients with hypertension, group discussions can lead to increased perception and sensitivity levels and also enhance the ability of individuals to control their lifestyles.

Keywords:

Empowerment , Hypertension , Group Discussion , توانمندسازی , پرفشاری خون , بحث گروهی