The effect of an educative intervention about blood pressure control on levels of knowledge and self efficacy in patients undergoing haemodialysis: a randomized clinical trial

Statistics show that hypertension is a common co-morbidity amongst haemodialysis patients. Knowledge and self efficacy levels of the patient can affect health-related behaviors in managing the disease as well as the consequences of the disease. This study was conducted to elicit the effect of an education intervention on the knowledge and self efficacy of hemodialysis patients in terms of blood pressure control. In a randomized clinical trial, 58 patients undergoing hemodialysis were randomized into an intervention (n = 29) or a control group (n = 29). Questionnaires were utilised to gather data relating to sample demography and levels of knowledge and self efficacy about blood pressure control in hemodialysis patients. The Intervention group received education and at the end, the educating manual was delivered to patients. Then, it was tracked once a week by the researcher. After 12 weeks, knowledge and self-efficacy were measured in both groups again. The results showed that there was a significant difference between the mean scores of knowledge before educating (35.24 ± 4.35) with 12 weeks after educating (39.58 ± 4.22) among the patients participating in the intervention group (p < 0.001). The findings also indicated that, there was a significant difference between average self-efficacy scores before educating (44.99 ± 3.79) with 12 weeks after educating (48.9 ± 3.79) among patients in the intervention group (p = 0.001). This study results showed that, nursing education along with follow-up in patients undergoing hemodialysis is effective on promotion of knowledge and self-efficacy in these patients is in controlling blood pressure. Due to the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness, this method is recommended for patients undergoing hemodialysis.