Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices of Hypertension amongst Apparently Healthy Adults in a Rural Setting in Rivers State

Abstract

Hypertension is a major risk factor for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. The prevalence of hypertension is increasing in our environment. The objective of this study is to assess knowledge, attitude and practice of hypertension, which is a crucial element of hypertension control but little information is available from developing countries where hypertension has lately been recognised as a major health problem. Therefore, we examined KAP on hypertension amongst apparently healthy adult population. A cross-sectional study was conducted amongst 107 adults- 80 females and 27 males between the ages of 18years and 80years for a period of 3 months using random sampling. KAP score about hypertension was deduced from a set of KAP related questions/questionnaire. Results show that 74.8%were females and 25.2% were males. About 46.7% of the respondents were self-employed followed by 17.8% unemployed and 6.5% were students. More than half (78.5%) of the respondents had proper knowledge on hypertension. Almost all (90.7%) had positive attitude toward. Hypertension. About 13.1% never checked their blood pressure except for when they get to the hospital for some other reasons, 13.1% also neither exercised nor consulted a health care provider. Most of the participants (51.4%) never consumed alcohol nor smoked (91.6%).