Table 1 Intervention Description and Replication (TIDieR) checklist

 1

Brief intervention for stress management and change in illness perception among hypertensive and normotensive workers: pilot study and protocol.

 2

The study aimed to describe and evaluate the effects of a pilot intervention on illness perception, perceived stress and knowledge about the illness among hypertensive and normotensive workers. The main rationale was to improve the knowledge about hypertension, adjust the participants’ perceptions to the average threat level of the disease.

 3

The intervention group received a psychoeducation training program that took practitioners through clinical aspects of systemic arterial hypertension, life style and stress management, the methodology was expository, included group dynamics/exercises and classroom discussion. The participants received a folder, containing clarifications on the hypertension, a certificate of participation and a summary with tips for relaxation in stressful situations (available on https://osf.io/jyr6c/). Precise details of the components of the training program can be found in Appendix.

 4

The detailed agenda can be found on Appendix.

 5

The sessions were given by a psychologist, with a master degree in clinical psychology and a solid experience conducting group intervention for psychoeducation or change of health behavior.

 6

The sessions were presence, being held weekly and facilitated in groups of 4–8 participants, lasting 2 h each.

 7

The participants were recruited at their workplace (petrochemical industry) and the sessions were carried out in the same location. The infrastructure included a private meeting room, chair, projector, computer (for slides presentation) and air conditioning.

 8

The intervention was composed of two weekly sessions plus a first meeting called “Attraction”, in which the participants received information about how the intervention would work, gave their consent and responded the first stage of data collection. The first session lasted 1 h and the others 2 h. The sessions were set up at different times, according to the participants’ availability. Two groups occurred in the afternoon, from 2.00 p.m. to 4.00 p.m. (one of hypertensive and another of normotensive participants) and two groups in the morning, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 p.m., separated by condition (clinical or nonclinical).

 9

The intervention was not planned to be personalized, titrated, or adapted.

 10

Intervention adherence or fidelity was not assessed.

 11

There were no modifications during the intervention.

 12

The mean (SD) number of intervention sessions attended was 2.05 for hypertensive and 2.29 for normotensive group (including the meeting of attraction). Sixteen participants completed the program—eight hypertensive and eight normotensive (48%). The reasons given for non-attendance to the intervention were a lot of work demand, work trip, or pre-scheduled medical procedure.