Abstract
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Background: Despite the growing burden of noncommunicable diseases in Ethiopia, the utilization of population-based screening services remains low, highlighting the need for effective community-level interventions that promote early detection and prevention.
Objective: This study aimed to assess the effect of health education in improving noncommunicable diseases screening service utilization and blood pressure among adults in a district around Bahir Dar City, Ethiopia in 2024.
Methods: A cluster randomized controlled community trial was conducted among 428 adults, with 214 participants each in the intervention and control groups. The intervention consisted of health and nutrition education delivered by trained PTA members through existing community social structures. Educational sessions lasted 30 minutes to 1 hour. Participants in the control group continued to receive routine health education provided through the healthcare system. A structured interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect data. MacNemar’s test and binary logistic regression were used to assess the intervention effect.
Results: The overall difference in utilization of screening services for targeted NCDs between the intervention and control groups was 28.1% (P<0.001). Respondents in the intervention group were 4.8 times more likely to utilize screening services compared with their counterparts [AOR=4.83, 95% CI: (2.7, 8.5)]. Overall difference in the prevalence of hypertension was 24.8%, p<0.001.
Conclusions: Health education intervention through parent-teacher association members was an effective approach to improve screening service utilization and to reduce blood pressure. This study suggests to use parent-teacher association members to promote screening service utilization and to reduce blood pressure through the existing social structures.
Keywords: Noncommunicable diseases, hypertension, parent-teacher-association members, low resource setting, cancer, DM
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