Impact of health screening and education on knowledge of coronary heart disease risk factors

Objectives: To evaluate the effects of a community health screening and education intervention on knowledge of coronary heart disease (CHD) risk factors and participation in health-promoting behaviors. Design: Descriptive, exploratory, nonexperimental study. Setting: Little Rock, AR, from July 2007 to December 2007. Participants: 56 participants recruited from two community health screenings. Intervention: Prescreening written questionnaire to determine baseline knowledge of CHD risk factors. Participants underwent risk factor screening (lipid profile, blood glucose, body mass index [BMI], and blood pressure) and received tailored education. A postscreening telephone questionnaire was administered 4 to 8 weeks later. Main outcome measures: Participant knowledge of CHD risk factors and participation in health-promoting behaviors pre- and postscreening. Results: Of the 56 participants enrolled, 45 (80.4%) completed the postscreening telephone survey. Compared with prescreening responses, participants showed significantly greater postscreening knowledge of healthy values for CHD risk factors, including blood pressure (P = 0.02), fasting blood glucose (P = 0.03), fasting total cholesterol (P < 0.01), and BMI (P < 0.01). Following the screening, 20 (44.4%) participants had consulted their primary care provider and 31 (68.8%) made at least one healthy behavior change. Approximately one-half of participants reported changing eating habits, and 5 (11.1%) reported increased exercise. Conclusion: These results demonstrate that community-based health screening and education interventions can effectively promote public health knowledge and empower participants to engage in health-promoting behaviors.