Population-based intervention for cardiovascular diseases related knowledge and behaviours in Asian Indian women

Background & objectivesThere is poor knowledge and behaviors regarding chronic diseases related nutritional and lifestyle factors among women in low income countries. To evaluate efficacy of a multilevel population-based intervention in improving knowledge and practices for related factors we performed a study in India.MethodsPopulation based study among women 35–70 years was performed in four urban and five rural locations. Stratified sampling was performed and we enrolled 4624 (rural 2616, urban 2008) of eligible 8000 women (58%). Demographic details, medical history, diet, physical activity and anthropometry were recorded and blood hemoglobin, glucose and total cholesterol determined. Knowledge and behaviors regarding diet in chronic diseases were inquired in a randomly selected 100 women at each site (n = 900). A systematic multilevel population based intervention (using posters, handouts, street plays, public lectures, group lectures and focused group discussions) was administered over 6 months at each site. The questionnaire was re-administered at the end in random 100 women (n = 900) and differences determined. Descriptive statistics are reported. Comparison of parameters before and after intervention was assessed using Mann Whitney test.ResultsPrevalence (%) of chronic disease related lifestyles and risk factors in rural/urban women, respectively, was illiteracy in 63.6/29.4, smoking/tobacco use 39.3/18.9, high fat intake 93.6/93.4, high salt intake 18.2/12.6, low physical activity 59.5/70.2, overweight/obesity 22.5/45.6, truncal obesity 13.0/44.3, hypertension 31.6/48.2, hypercholesterolemia 13.5/27.7, and diabetes in 4.3/15.1 percent. Composite chronic diseases knowledge at baseline vs after intervention increased significantly in overall (32.0 vs 62.0), rural (29.0 vs 63.5) and urban (39.5 vs 60.5) groups (p < 0.001). Significant increase in knowledge regarding diet in hypertension, diabetes, heart disease and anemia as well as importance of dietary proteins, fats, fibres and fruits was observed (p < 0.001). There was insignificant change in most of the practices regarding intake of low fat, high protein, high fibre diet except sieving the flour which declined significantly (80.1 vs 53.6, p < 0.001).ConclusionsA short-term multilevel population-wide intervention among women in rural and urban locations in India increased chronic disease knowledge but failed to influence practices.