Abstract
Background:Hypertension is a significant challenge for healthcare systems globally. It is estimated to cause 7.5 million deaths worldwide annually. Knowledge of hypertension plays a crucial role in behavioral changes required to prevent and manage the condition. This study aimed to assess the public's knowledge of hypertension’s risk factors, symptoms, complications, and treatment.Methods:This cross-sectional, descriptive, and exploratory study included a convenience sample of 723 Jordanian adults. The Hypertension Knowledge Test was used to measure the participants' knowledge of hypertension’s risk factors, symptoms, complications, and treatment.Results:The participants' mean score of total hypertension knowledge was 11.5 ±3.82 (52.2%), with 85.9% (n=621) having inadequate knowledge. Their mean scores for hypertension’s risk factors, symptoms, complications, and treatment were 7.45 ±2.35 (62.1%), 2.29 ±1.21 (45.8%), 1.38 ± 0.943 (46%), and 0.391 ± 0.603 (19.6%), respectively. Four factors were found to be significant predictors of participants' knowledge, such as age (p=0.002), education level (p<0.001), family history (p<0.001), and receiving hypertension-related information (p<0.001).Conclusion:The participants had inadequate knowledge regarding hypertension’s complications, risk factors, symptoms, and treatment. Public health education programs that focus on hypertension knowledge are required. Nurses and other healthcare providers should take the initiative in hypertension education. Strategic planning and designing of hypertension programs are required to fit the needs of the Jordanian public to enhance their knowledge of hypertension and related preventive and control measures.
Highlights
Hypertension (HTN) is a major global health problem because of its high prevalence and resulting morbidity, premature mortality, and healthcare expenditure [1, 2]
The results revealed inadequate overall knowledge of HTN among the participants, which is alarming and sheds light on the need for improving the public’s knowledge of HTN, which is congruent with previous studies conducted in Thailand [12], China [14], the United Kingdom [21], and Tibet [22]
Inadequate public knowledge of HTN is expected because it is more common for individuals to seek health-related information if they, or their family members, are affected with the disease.They would be motivated to learn more about their disease and treatment plan, by having greater control over prevention of the disease’s complications [16, 26]
Summary
Hypertension (HTN) is a major global health problem because of its high prevalence and resulting morbidity, premature mortality, and healthcare expenditure [1, 2]. Hypertension is defined as a systolic blood pressure ≥ 140 mmHg and/or a diastolic blood pressure ≥ 90 mmHg following repeated measurement on 2-3 different clinic visits [3]. It is a significant risk factor for cardiovascular and kidney diseases and accounts for 51% of stroke mortality and 45% of heart disease mortality worldwide [4]. About 1.13 billion people worldwide have HTN, with two-thirds of the cases reported in low and middle-income countries (LMIC). This number is expected to increase to 1.56 billion (29.2%) by 2025 [6]. This study aimed to assess the public's knowledge of hypertension’s risk factors, symptoms, complications, and treatment
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