Change in knowledge in a coronary heart disease risk factor intervention study in three communities

We investigated health and diet knowledge as it relates to coronary heart disease (CHD) in three rural areas which participated in a community-oriented CHD risk factor intervention study. Knowledge of risk factors (risk knowledge) was fairly satisfactory at baseline, but diet knowledge was poor. Males, the young, and individuals with a lower level of education had less knowledge. Intervention consisted of a 3-year small mass media programme in one community (low-intensity intervention, LII), additional interpersonal intervention to high-risk individuals in the second (high-intensity intervention, HII), and no intervention in the control community (C). In the cohorts, with the baseline survey and the follow-up study 4 years apart, knowledge improved by 8.1% points in males (7.5% in females) in the HII community and by 7.1% (6.5%) in the LII community, compared to 5.5% (4.8%) in the C community (P less than 0.01). Diet knowledge improved more than risk knowledge, and individuals with lower initial scores benefitted most. Female scored highest. Educational level made a modest positive contribution to knowledge gain, after adjusting for differences in baseline knowledge. High-risk individuals did not have better knowledge at baseline, nor did they gain more from the intervention. We conclude that community intervention over a 4 year period, based on community diagnosis and tailored to the community's needs, can improve health knowledge.