Indian Journal of Pharmaceutical Education and Research | Vol 53 | Issue 3 | Jul-Sep, 2019 553 Original Artcle www.ijper.org DOI: 10.5530/ijper.53.3.88 Correspondence: Dr. Tan Ching Siang, Dean, School of Pharmacy, KPJ University College, 71800 Nilai, Negeri Sembilan, MALAYSIA. Phone: +60 174222526 E-mail: chingsiang9@ hotmail.com Submission Date: 18-02-2019; Revision Date: 27-03-2019; Accepted Date: 09-05-2019 ABSTRACT Introduction: Pharmacist led health education programs have been initiated to improve Blood Pressure (BP) control in the community and patients’ knowledge on a disease and therapy, lifestyle changes and medication adherence among hypertensive patients. This study aimed to evaluate pharmacist led health education program among hypertensive patients, in local community-based setting, by assessing the changes in blood pressure control, beliefs about medicine, antihypertensive medications adherence and quality use of medication. Methods: This study was prospective convenient sampling, with community- based health education study involving 45 participants at the Community Service Hall in Bukit Mertajam, Penang, Malaysia. Participants received health education program over 4 months period: Introduction of hypertension, pharmacological management of hypertension, quality use of medication and diet and lifestyle changes. Outcomes included the changes Blood Pressure (BP) level, Malaysian Medication Adherence Assessment (MALMAS), Beliefs about Medicines Questionnaire (BMQ) and Quality Use of Medication (QUM). Results: Both systolic BP (146.6 ± 11.1 mmHg, P<0.001) and diastolic BP (87.6 ± 9.6 mmHg, P=0.002) decreased significantly after the 2-months intervention. Systolic BP was successfully reduced significantly to 140.1 ± 10.7 mmHg (P<0.001) after the 4-months intervention. Medication adherents increased significantly from baseline (29.3%) to 2-months interventions (58.5%, P=0.005) and 4-months interventions (70.7%, P<0.001). Significant improvement was also noticed in BMQ and QUM. Conclusion: Pharmacist led health education program has significantly desirable effects on improvement of blood pressure, better beliefs about medicine, improvement of medication adherence and better rational use of medication Key words: Pharmacist led education program, Hypertension, Medication adherence, Beliefs about medicine, Quality use of medication. The Role of Pharmacist in Managing Hypertension in the Community: Findings from a Community Based Study Tan Ching Siang 1, *, Mohamed Azmi Ahmad Hassali 2 , Neoh Chin Fen 3 1 Dean, School of Pharmacy, KPJ University College, Nilai, Negeri Sembilan, MALAYSIA. 2 School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, MALAYSIA. 3 Faculty of Pharmacy, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Puncak Alam, MALAYSIA. INTRODUCTION Hypertension is a serious chronic disease in worldwide, with an estimated 1 billion people globally afficted with this disease. 1,2 According to the Joint National Commit- tee 7 (JNC 7), hypertension is defned as physician offce systolic BP level of ≥140 millimetres of mercury (mmHg) and dia- stolic BP of ≥90 mmHg. 3 In Malaysia, about 30.3% of adults of 18 years and above has hypertension 4 and only 26.6% of hypertensive patients had a blood pressure of ≤ 140/90 mmHg. 5 Uncontrolled hyper- tension can lead to signifcant morbidity and mortality, accounting for at least 45% of deaths due to heart disease and 51% of deaths due to stroke. 1,6 However, clini- cal research demonstrated that heart fail- ure, strokes and myocardial infarction can be reduced by 50%, 35-40% and 20-25%, respectively, if blood pressure is being con- trolled. 3 Evidence showed that a 5-mmHg reduction of Systolic Blood Pressure (SBP)