Abstract P107: Hypertensive Patients Health Beliefs and Management Behaviors in a Tertiary Health Institution in Nigeria

Abstract

Background/Objective: Hypertension remains a major global public health concern. Despite available effective therapies and lifestyle interventions, optimal control of blood pressure remains a very serious health challenge to healthcare professionals especially in most developing countries like Nigeria. Studies done among African Americans suggest that beliefs play important role in hypertension control or management behaviors. We therefore carried out a study to assess hypertensive patients’ knowledge and beliefs about hypertension and how they affect their management behaviors. Method: The study was centered at the outpatient cardiology clinic of Lagos University Teaching Hospital(LUTH). It was a cross sectional descriptive study with the use of interviewer-administered validated structured questionnaires. The Hypertension Knowledge-Level Scale was used to assess knowledge about hypertension. A questionnaire based on Health Belief Model was used to assess patients’ beliefs and management behaviors. Ethical clearance was obtained from the Research and Ethics committee of LUTH and patients consent sought prior commencement of the study. The data obtained was analyzed using SPSS version 20.0 using descriptive and inferential statistics. Result: A total ninety patients (52 males & 38 females) were interviewed. The level of knowledge of hypertension among the respondents was above average, 57.8%( 52 of 90) had good knowledge while 42.2% (38 of 90) had poor knowledge. Majority of the respondents had poor management behaviors (65.6%, 59 of 90). This could be attributed to poor cues to action (56.7%, 51 of 90) and high positive response (70%, 63 of 90) to perceived barriers in adopting lifestyle modification and medication adherence. However, high positive response was recorded for perceived susceptibility (74.4%, 67 of 90), severity (88.9%, 80 of 90), benefits (93.3%, 84 of 90), and self-efficacy (75.6%, 68 of 90). Conclusion: The study shows that high knowledge of hypertension as seen among the respondents did not translate into good management behavior which could be as a result of their beliefs or poor response to cues to action.