Effect of Educational Intervention Based on Self-efficacy Theory and Selfregulatory Strategies on Physical Activity of Prehypertensive Individuals

Considering the importance of healthy lifestyle education in the prevention and control of hypertension and also timely identification of prehypertensive individuals, the present study was conducted to determine the effect of educational intervention based on self-efficacy theory and self-regulatory strategies on physical activity of pre-hypertensive individuals.

This quasi-experimental study was performed on 90 people, aged 30 to 59 years who referred to urban health centers in Nehbandan in 2021. They were randomly selected and divided into two groups of 50 (intervention and control). Data were completed and collected by questionnaires of demographic information, knowledge of hypertension, self-efficacy of physical activity and standard questionnaire of physical activity by self-administered method. After the pre-test, the intervention group received 6 training sessions in 4 weeks. The post-test was performed in two groups immediately and three months after the training sessions. Data were analyzed by repeated measures analysis of variance, Bonferroni post hoc test, independent t-test and Chi-square test in SPSS software version 21.

In the present study, the mean age of participants in the control group was 45.80±8.31 and in the intervention group were 44.95 ± 8.20. Data analysis showed the equality of awareness, self-efficacy and physical activity in the two groups before the intervention (p<0.05). After the intervention, a significant increase in the mean and standard deviation of knowledge, self-efficacy and physical activity was observed in the intervention groups immediately and three months after the intervention (p>0.05). Also, the level of awareness, self-efficacy and physical activity in the control group was significantly lower than the intervention group (p>0.001).

The results of the present study showed the effectiveness of educational intervention based on self-efficacy theory and self-regulatory strategies on physical activity of pre-hypertensive individuals. Therefore, the use of this model in the design of educational interventions to promote regular physical activity is recommended.