Adherence to a Health Literacy and Healthy Lifestyle with Improved Blood Pressure Control in Iran

High blood pressure is the leading and most important modifiable
risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Health literacy and lifestyle are two paramount key
factors behind better control of hypertension. This study was conducted to examine the
current situation of health literacy and health-promoting lifestyle and its association with
blood pressure control among people affected by hypertension in the population over age 30
of Northwest Iran.
Patients and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted in October and
December 2018 on the over 30-year-old population among subjects suffering from hyperten-
sion (n= 210). A self-reported questionnaire was used for assessing health literacy dimen-
sions and lifestyle.
Results: In hierarchical linear analysis, the HL explained 33.9% of the variance in healthy
lifestyle. Among HL dimensions, the ability to access health information and decision-
making were significantly associated with healthy lifestyle. The health literacy dimensions
contributed to an additional significant increase in 4.7% of the variance explained in
hypertension, furthermore, the health-promoting lifestyle items were explained an additional
14.8% of the hypertension variance. In total, lifestyle and health literacy dimensions were
able to explain 21.7% of the variance in hypertension.
Conclusion: Our study encourages efforts to monitor health literacy in people with hyper-
tension and investigate associations with involvement with health-promoting lifestyle.