健康診査成績に基づいた保健指導の一次予防効果

抄録

The effects of community health education were evaluated, based on the results of health examination aiming at lifestyle change for primary prevention. The subjects were 62 men and 148 women aged 35-68 years living in two communities of a town surrounded by mountains located at the northern part of Gifu Prefecture, Japan. Intensive health education was carried out for the subjects from the two communities for 3 years, and the changes in health status of the subjects were compared with those in the control community. The education program conducted here toward prevention of hypertension, obesity and hepatic dysfunction was adoption of some of the recommended behaviors, e.g., reducing the intake of salt, energy, fat and alcohol, and increasing exercise. Subjects of the intervened community showed some improvements in lifestyle and in the results of health examination compared with the control community. The rate of subjects with vigorous physical activity and vegetable oil intake increased in the intervened community, though the rate of green vegetable intake decreased. The results showed that objective and quantifiable indices were needed to evaluate the behavior change. Mean body weight of subjects in the intervened community showed a 1.0 kg greater reduction than in the control community. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure and γ-GTP rose in the subjects from control community significantly, but the increase was little in the intervened community. The rate of the subjects who needed to consult a physician decreased in the intervened community. The improvements in health status were significantly less in the subjects within normal limits in health examination. It was concluded that motivation is more important to achieve the educational goals than merely increasing the chance of health education to increase their knowledge.