Healthy Heart Africa: a prospective evaluation of programme outcomes on individuals' hypertension awareness, screening, diagnosis and treatment in rural Kenya at 12 months.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of Healthy Heart Africa (HHA), a comprehensive hypertension intervention programme, on hypertension awareness, knowledge, screening and diagnosis among rural communities in Kenya.
METHODS: Individuals from rural households near intervention and matched control healthcare facilities were randomly surveyed at baseline and the end point (after 12 months). A difference-in-differences analysis estimated the impact of HHA.
RESULTS: This analysis included 838 individuals (intervention, n = 432; control, n = 406) at baseline and 698 (n = 364 and n = 334, respectively) at the end point. At baseline, both groups had high hypertension awareness (> 80%) but poor knowledge. After 12 months, healthcare providers were the primary information source for the intervention group only (p < 0.05). At the end point, respondents' knowledge of hypertension risk factors, consequences and management trended higher among the intervention versus the control group. Hypertension screening/diagnosis and patient recall of provider recommendations remained unchanged in both groups.
CONCLUSIONS: HHA improved hypertension knowledge but screening and diagnosis remained unchanged after 12 months.