KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND PRACTICEABOUTHYPERTENSION AND DIETARY PRACTICES AMONGANTI- HYPERTENSIVE MEDICATION USERS OF DHARANSUB- METROPOLITAN, CITY

Abstract

This community based cross-sectional descriptive study aimed to evaluate the knowledge, attitude and practices concerning hypertension and dietary habits among individuals using anti- hypertensive medication in Dharan Sub-Metropolitan, City. 4 out of 20 wards were selected by using simple random sampling technique. The study included 141 clinically diagnosed hypertensive patients aged 20-80 years, who had been on anti-hypertensivemedication for over 6 months. Data was collected using anthropometric measurements anda semi-structured questionnaire. Chi square tests, Fisher’s exact test and Pearson’s correlation tests were used to assess the association between the variables. The study revealed that 78.7%, 93.6% and 22.0% of the patient had a good knowledge, attitude and practice score respectively. A majority 68.8% had family history of hypertension and 67.4% of them had hypertension for over 2 years. About 95.7%of the respondent knew that regular medication is important to prevent high blood pressureand93.6% understood that regular exercise contributes to a healthy life. The medication adherence score was found to be 86.5%. However, 17.0% never performed any sorts of exercise. 85.8% and 56.7% of the respondents never smoke and consumed alcoholic beverages. 50.3% reported the presence of one or more co-morbidity of which diabetes mellitus 30.5% was found to be the most comorbid condition. Despite of having good knowledge and attitude of participant towards healthy lifestyle habits, the practice regarding lifestyle modification among hypertensive patients is low