Knowledge, attitude and practice of Iranian hypertensive patients regarding hypertension

Introduction: This study aimed at evaluating knowledge and awareness of hypertension and the risk factors for hypertension among hypertensive patients. Methods: In this study, 110 hypertensive patients were enrolled and filled out two self administered questionnaires. The first questionnaire was about the demographic characteristics and the second one was about the knowledge (n = 10), attitude (n = 9) and practice (n = 8). The internal consistency and the stability of the questionnaires were approved. The Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskal-Wallis and Spearman correlation coefficient were used for statistical analysis. Results: Seventy-three percent of participants know the normal range of hypertension. Most of the participants truly knew that stress (87.3%), obesity (70.9%) and aging (48.2%) are risk factors for hypertension. About 60% of participants knew the complications of uncontrolled hypertension. About 82.7% of participants believed that after adaptation of body to hypertension, there is no need to use antihypertensive drug. About 13.6% of participants measured their blood pressure daily and 11.8% of them measured it once a month. The educational level of participants was significantly associated with knowledge score (P = 0.01). There was a significant correlation between knowledge (P 0.001) and attitude and also attitude and practice (P 0.001) scores. Conclusion: These findings have important implications for developing proper and continuous self-management hypertension education programs in Iran which should mostly emphasize on the practical information about control and prevention programs.