A HEALth Promotion and STRESS Management Program (HEAL-STRESS study) for XXXX and @entity101 @entity1 : a quasi-experimental study in Greece.

@entity1 @entity308 @entity5332 @entity101 @entity13519 @entity148 @entity551 @entity1556 @entity65
UNASSIGNED: Current @entity101 guidelines advocate strategies encouraging healthy lifestyle behaviours. So far, there is a paucity of studies for the efficacy of such multifaceted programmes. The aim of this study is to investigate the efficacy of an 8-week health-promotion programme for lowering blood pressure (BP) in @entity1556 and @entity101 @entity1 in the community. This was a quasi-experimental study using wait-list controls of 548 @entity1 . The intervention group was administered with an 8-week health-promotion intervention. Measurements included home BP, smoking, body mass index (BMI), perceived stress, @entity308 , @entity148 and Health Locus of Control. After adjusting for confounders, the intervention group had a significant @entity551 ( @entity13519 ; mean -2.62   mm   Hg, 95% confidence interval (CI): -1.29 to -3.96) and @entity551 ( @entity551 ; mean -1.0, 95% CI: -0.93 to -1.9) compared with controls. In all, 14.9% of @entity1 in the intervention group had >10   mm   @entity5332 reduction in @entity13519 vs 4.4% in the control group (P<0.001, numbers needed to treat (NNT)=10). With regards to @entity551 , 21.7% of @entity1 in the intervention group had >5   mm   Hg reduction vs 12.5% in the control group (P=0.01, NNT=11). In terms of effect size, moderate-to-large improvements of BMI, perceived stress, @entity148 , @entity308 , external and chance Health Locus of Control were recorded. Changes in @entity13519 and @entity551 were attributed to BMI and depressive symptom reductions, respectively. Comprehensive non-pharmaceutical programmes for BP management are strongly encouraged. Their long-term benefits on @entity65 and mortality remain to be established by future research.Journal of @entity1 @entity101 advance online publication, 1 October 2015; doi:10.1038/jhh.2015.99.
