Patients knowledge of hypertension and its control in eastern Sudan

Abstract

Objective: To describe the knowledge of hypertensive patients, in Kassala, eastern Sudan, about the disease, in relation to its control. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Kassala Teaching Hospital, Kassala, Eastern Sudan. Subjects: Patients with hypertension attending referred outpatient medical clinic. Main outcome measures: Blood pressure, control status and hypertension knowledge score. Results: Two hundred and forty two patients were involved in this study, of whom 68 (73.6%) were females and were of middle age. The majority were of low education. One fifth (19.4%) was found to have controlled blood pressure. About two-thirds of patients showed a high score of knowledge about the aetiology and complications of hypertension. Half of the patients knew about treatment of hypertension. Patients have a very low score regarding knowledge of symptoms of hypertension (38.8%). Conclusion: This study showed good patients' knowledge about hypertension, but such knowledge did not seem to have a significant beneficial effect on blood pressure control. Health education is warranted by health care providers and other factors leading to poor control should be identified and managed.