Introduction: Cardiovascular diseases are one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality, therefore continuous implementation of planned health education is very important. In the modern world, information and communication technology is unavoidable and provides an opportunity for preventive actions against cardiovascular diseases. Numerous studies have confirmed the success of its usage in the process of health education of the population for preventing cardiovascular diseases. Purpose: The purpose of the thesis is to review literature in order to research and present the ways of using information and communication technology in the process of health education of the healthy population and the population with risk factors for cardiovascular diseases, and determine its effectiveness. Methods: A review of Slovenian and foreign literature was conducted by searching scientific articles on the Digital Library of the University of Ljubljana portal and the CINAHL, MEDLINE and ScienceDirect international databases. The search of Slovenian literature was also conducted by using the COBIB.SI library catalogue. Fourteen original scientific articles were included into the review of literature; their quality was evaluated by using the hierarchy of evidence. Results: The largest number of the included articles was published in the United States of America, while the others originated from different countries around the world. 67% of all articles studied the effectiveness of using different information and communication technologies for health education by using a sample of people with risk factors for cardiovascular diseases, and the remaining 33% by using a sample of healthy persons. In the process of health education with the use of information and communication technology, the studies included electronic bracelets, websites, compact discs, e-mail, mobile phones and devices created specifically for conducting health education. Health education that uses information and communication technology is more successful in comparison to classic health education. The most frequent way of using information and communication technology is mobile phones, which are most often used in combination with websites. Electronic bracelets, compact discs, mobile phones and websites were declared as the most successful information and communication technology in numerous articles. Discussion and conclusion: Health education is extremely important for preventive actions against cardiovascular diseases. The healthy population has to be educated about risk factors in order to prevent the emergence of diseases and also influence quality of life. Information and communication technology presents a wide array of possibilities for positively influencing the behaviour, supporting health and well-being and consequently preventing cardiovascular diseases. The use of information and communication technology in the process of health education offers great opportunities for research as its use may have an influence on preserving, strengthening and establishing the health of the population.
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