Effectiveness of a community-based educational intervention to reduce cardiovascular risk among hypertensive adults in Ecuador: a quasi-experimental study

Background: Arterial hypertension (AH) is a leading risk factor for cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and plays a key role in determining cardiovascular risk (CVR). Strategies to reduce CVR are fundamental in primary health care. Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of an educational intervention on improving knowledge about CVDs and reducing CVR levels in hypertensive patients at a health center in Ecuador. Methods: A quasi-experimental before-and-after study was conducted with 55 hypertensive adults. CVR was assessed using the Globorisk scale, and knowledge about CVDs was measured through a validated questionnaire from the EMDADER-CV study. Baseline and six-month post-intervention measurements were compared. Clinical trial number: not applicable. Ethical considerations: The study was approved by the corresponding ethics committees and conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and national regulations. Written informed consent was obtained from all participants. Results: The mean participant age was 58.3 years, with women representing 69.1% of the sample. After six months, the mean CVR significantly decreased from 8.8–5.9% (p < 0.05), and the mean knowledge score significantly increased from 5.2 to 9.0 points (p < 0.05). The proportion of individuals with high or very high CVR declined from 36.4–10.9%, while those at low or moderate risk increased from 63.6–89.1%. Conclusion: The educational strategy was effective in both reducing cardiovascular risk and improving knowledge about CVDs among hypertensive patients in a primary care setting.