Autoconhecimento e orientações dos agentes comunitários de saúde sobre hipertensão arterial no município de Santa Cruz/RN

Abstract

Introduction: Hypertension is one of the members of the group of non-transmissible chronic diseases, which consists of persistent elevation of blood pressure levels, in which the systolic blood pressure (SBP) is equal to or greater than 140 mmHg and the diastolic blood pressure (DBP) is equal to or greater to 90 mmHg. The problem caused by arterial hypertension highlights the importance of actions to promote health and control the disease in primary care, as well as the role of health professionals in the fight against and in the dissemination of information relevant to the health care of the population. Aim: to evaluate the self-knowledge and orientation, health about Systemic Arterial Hypertension of community health workers in the urban area of the city of Santa Cruz/RN. Methods: This is a cross-sectional, observational and analytical study, carried out in all urban Primary care organizations, with community health agents working in the municipality, included in the Family Health Strategy and registered in the CNES (National Register of Health Establishments). The CHAs were invited to answer a specific questionnaire for the study created by the researchers, through the adaptation of an instrument in the validation process to assess self-care and self perception of individuals with systemic arterial hypertension. The questions were divided into 3 fields related to their performance whose answers had four options to choose from, (1) general knowledge about systemic arterial hypertension, (2) the attributions and competences of the Community Health Worker and (3) guidelines for the prevention/control of hypertension, finally, were evaluated regarding their Vital signs. Results: Of the 65 professionals, 42 (64.6%) Community Health Worker participated in the research, with a mean age of 46.2 ± 4.96 years, with a predominance of women n=32 (76.2%) and n=10 (23 .8%) were men, 29 (69.1%) of the participants were in the overweight to obesity grade II range, approximately 31% had a diagnosis of arterial hypertension, but 18 CHA (42.8%) had systolic blood pressure greater than or equal to 140 mmHg, as well as 19 (45.2%) had diastolic blood pressure equal to or greater than 90 mmHg and 52.4% had a sedentary lifestyle. With regard to knowledge about Arterial Hypertension, 57% did not know which blood pressure values indicate that someone has high blood pressure, about 82% did not usually track arterial hypertension in individuals over 20 years of age, even without complaints, 59.9% did not correctly advised hypertensive patients about weighing themselves on the scale at home or pharmacy, 71.4% and 85.6% did not coherently advise patients about salt and alcohol consumption respectively, paying attention to the indicated amounts and 50 % did not advise the population to seek professional help/guidance (physiotherapist, physical education professional) for physical practice. Conclusions: The Community Health Workers do not have adequate knowledge about arterial hypertension, as well as, they do not guide the population in a satisfactory way, a policy of permanent health education is needed in order to qualify the management of chronic non-transmissible diseases in primary health care. health, appropriate education enables these CHAs to propagate health in the correct way, avoiding the indiscriminate transfer of information in view of limited knowledge about a given health condition.