Effectiveness of an intervention to improve screening and treatment management of hypertension at the Commune Health Stations, Cao Bang province in 2021 – 2022

The study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions in screening and treatment management of hypertension at commune health stations (CHSs) in Cao Bang province in 2021- 2022. All 161 CHSs in Cao Bang province were selected for the study. The intervention package was developed based on the needs of CHSs in Cao Bang, including i) conducting advocacy workshops to support and remove barriers that affect activities on screening and treatment management of hypertension at CHSs; ii) providing capacity building for commune health workers, village health worker through hand-on training and supportive supervision; iii) providing CHSs with essential equipment; and iv) using software to support the management of data on hypertension screening and treatment management. Data were collected through self administered questionnaires filled by CHSs, and extracted from the management software. The effectiveness of the intervention was analyzed based on a comparison of pre and post-intervention outcomes. Results showed that the rate of CHSs implementing screening for hypertension increased from 27.3% to 95.0%. The rate of CHSs conducting treatment management also increased from 69.6% to 96.9%. The proportion of people screened for hypertension increased from 31.8% to 86.0%. The average number of hypertensive people who received treatment management at CHSs increased from 3.0 to 54.2 people. Additionally, the rate of patients achieving target blood pressure increased by 10.4% (64.4% compared to 54.0%). The results showed that the intervention package was effective and suitable for CHSs, and it should be replicated in other provinces.