Effect of motivational interviewing on blood pressure of referents suffering from hypertension

Aims: Hypertension is the most important modifiable factor in the cardiovascular diseases. The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of group motivational interviewing on the blood pressure of people suffering from hypertension. Materials & Methods: This research is a quasi-experimental study with the pre-test, post-test and a control group which was conducted at different time intervals on 61 patients suffering from systolic blood pressure from 125 to 160 mm Hg in the Isfahan medical sciences university in a project for screening diabetes and metabolic syndrome in 2009. 80 subjects were selected by random sampling and were randomly divided into the experimental group (N=40) and the control group (N=40). An intervention consists of five sessions of group motivational interviewing and common lifestyle training was provided for the experimental group. The data was analyzed using statistical covariance analysis and dependent T-test. Results: The mean of the systolic blood pressure (p=0.01) and diastolic blood pressure (p=0.05) were significantly lower in the group receiving the motivational interview than the control group after the intervention. Despite the fact that there was no significant difference in systolic blood pressure in the follow-up stage, the effect of the motivational interviewing on diastolic blood pressure was reported to be persistent. Conclusion: Including motivational interview in the health lifestyle trainings for controlling and preventing high-blood pressure is an effective way for decreasing blood pressure and consequently decreasing dangerous factors in cardiovascular diseases.