Effect of an Educational Nursing Intervention on the Mental Adjustment of Patients with Chronic Arterial Hypertension: An Interventional Study

Ana Margarida Alves, Alexandre Rodrigues, Pedro Sa-Couto and João Lindo Simões
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Ana Margarida Alves: Inpatient Service of Surgical Specialties, Centro Hospitalar do Baixo Vouga E.P.E., 3810-164 Aveiro, Portugal
Alexandre Rodrigues: School of Health Sciences (ESSUA), University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
Pedro Sa-Couto: Centre for Research and Development in Mathematics and Applications (CIDMA), Department of Mathematics (DMAT), University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
João Lindo Simões: School of Health Sciences (ESSUA), University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 19, issue 1, 1-22

Abstract: The objective of this analytical and interventional prospective quantitative study was to assess the effect of an educational intervention performed by nurses for mental adjustment to chronic disease in patients with hypertension. A convenience sample was studied, composed of 329 participants with chronic hypertension, followed in a primary healthcare unit in the Central Region of Portugal. Data collection was carried out by applying the Mental Adjustment to Disease Scale (MADS) before and 1 month after the educational nursing intervention between September 2017 and February 2018. Prior to the application of the educational intervention, 43.5% of the participants were classified as “unadjusted” in at least one of the subscales of MADS. After the educational intervention, 21.3% of the participants classified as “unadjusted” became “adjusted” in all MADS subscales. The success rate of the intervention varied from 26.9% (in the fatalism subscale) to 44.6% (for the anxious concern subscale). Participants were more likely to be mentally “unadjusted” to hypertension if they lived with other family members, had an active professional situation before the diagnosis of hypertension, still had an active professional situation now, were under 65 years old, had a shorter time to diagnosis (1–2 years), and measured blood pressure less regularly. The educational intervention performed by nurses is relevant for the mental adjustment of hypertensive patients, contributing to increased knowledge, as well as improvement in preventive and self-care practices, facilitating the experience of the health/disease transition process.

Keywords: chronic disease; hypertension; nursing; patient education; mental adjustment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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