Investigation of the effect of education based on the health belief model on the adoption of hypertension-controlling behaviors in the elderly

PURPOSE Hypertension is one of the risk factors for cardiovascular diseases and stroke, and has a direct relationship with aging. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of education based on the health belief model (HBM) on the adoption of hypertension-controlling behaviors in the elderly. METHODS The present quasiexperimental study was conducted on 100 hypertensive elderly persons from Qom, Iran. The questionnaire was completed by the participants before, immediately after, and 3 months after the intervention. RESULTS The results of repeated measure analysis of variance showed a significant difference in the scores of the constructs in the intervention and nonintervention groups before, immediately after, and 3 months after the intervention (P<0.001). CONCLUSION Education based on the HBM increases the performance and enhances the health beliefs regarding hypertension in the elderly population with hypertension. Therefore, it is recommended to consider the HBM to enhance self-care behaviors in the elderly.