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.