Community-based programmes achieved good results for most risk factors except BMI and ( glycated haemoglobin ) HbA1c .
INTRODUCTION Although cardiovascular disease ( CVD ) and type 2 diabetes mellitus ( T2DM ) prevention programmes have been effective in urban residents , their effectiveness in non-urban setting s , where cardio-metabolic risk is typically elevated , is unknown .
We systematic ally review ed the effectiveness of primary prevention programmes aim ed at reducing risk factors for CVD/T2DM , including blood pressure , body mass index ( BMI ) , blood lipid and glucose , diet , lifestyle , and knowledge in adults residing in non-urban areas .
COMMUNITY EDUCATION FOR CARDIOVASCULAR HEALTH
To determine whether community health education can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease , a field experiment was conducted in three northern California towns . In two of these communities there were extensive mass-media campaigns over a 2-year period , and in one of these , face-to-face counselling was also provided for a small subset of high-risk people . The third community served as a control . People from each community were interviewed and examined before the campaigns began and one and two years afterwards to assess knowledge and behaviour related to cardiovascular disease ( e.g. , diet and smoking ) and also to measure physiological indicators of risk ( e.g. , blood-pressure , relative weight , and plasma-cholesterol ) . In the control community the risk of cardiovascular disease increased over the two years but in the treatment communities there was a substantial and sustained decrease in risk . In the community in which there was some face-to-face counselling the initial improvement was greater and health education was more successful in reducing cigarette smoking , but at the end of the second year the decrease in risk was similar in both treatment communities . These results strongly suggest that mass-media education campaigns directed at entire communities may be very effective in reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease
Community-based programmes achieved good results for most risk factors except BMI and ( glycated haemoglobin ) HbA1c .
INTRODUCTION Although cardiovascular disease ( CVD ) and type 2 diabetes mellitus ( T2DM ) prevention programmes have been effective in urban residents , their effectiveness in non-urban setting s , where cardio-metabolic risk is typically elevated , is unknown .
We systematic ally review ed the effectiveness of primary prevention programmes aim ed at reducing risk factors for CVD/T2DM , including blood pressure , body mass index ( BMI ) , blood lipid and glucose , diet , lifestyle , and knowledge in adults residing in non-urban areas .