Effectiveness of a physical literacy intervention program for young and middle-aged adults with hypertension: a mixed-methods quasi-experimental study.

The study achieved good retention, with 35 of 40 recruited adults with Grade 1 hypertension completing all three assessments.

• Forty patients aged 18-59 years were recruited from a community healthcare center and allocated to intervention (n = 20) or control (n = 18 completers of 20) groups.
• Five participants were lost to follow-up; 35 (intervention n = 17; control n = 18) completed baseline (T0), post-intervention (T1), and one-month follow-up (T2) assessments.
• The completion rate was 87.5%.

The intervention group showed significant reductions in systolic blood pressure, body weight, and BMI after the 8-week program compared with baseline.

• The abstract reports these reductions as significant (all P < 0.05) for within-group change from baseline to post-intervention.
• Outcomes were analyzed with paired t-tests or Wilcoxon signed-rank tests for within-group changes.
• The design was quasi-experimental (non-randomized allocation) with a usual-care control group and small sample.

Physical literacy scores improved significantly in the intervention group after the program.

• The abstract reports significant improvements in PL scores (P < 0.05).
• The intervention was a multidimensional physical-literacy program lasting 8 weeks, delivered between August and October 2024.
• The control group received usual care.

Psychosocial measures (social support, sense of coherence, and self-efficacy) improved significantly in the intervention group.

• The abstract reports significant improvements in social support, sense of coherence, and self-efficacy (P < 0.05).
• These three constructs were the salutogenic model components built into the intervention.
• Between-group comparisons used independent t-tests or Mann-Whitney U tests; significance was set at α = 0.05 (two-tailed).

Qualitative interviews corroborated the quantitative results, highlighting enhanced health literacy and stress alleviation, alongside some logistical challenges.

• Semi-structured interviews were analyzed with inductive content analysis.
• Participants described improved health literacy and reduced stress.
• Logistical challenges with participation were also reported.

The author concludes that the physical literacy intervention is a feasible and effective strategy for improving health outcomes and psychosocial resilience in hypertensive adults.

• The study used a mixed-methods quasi-experimental design with assessments at baseline, post-intervention, and one-month follow-up.
• The author describes it as a promising approach for community-based chronic disease management.