Attitude, knowledge, and practice of medical students and pediatric physicians towards blood pressure measurement and hypertension in children: The impact of educational sessions

Accurate blood pressure measurement in pediatric patients is crucial for the proper diagnosis and management of hypertension in children. Understanding the level of attitude, knowledge, and practices (AKP) of medical students and physicians on pediatric blood pressure (BP) measurement and hypertension is essential. This is to assess their awareness of this subject which is often overlooked and where research is lacking. This study aims to evaluate the extent of AKP, among medical students and pediatric doctors regarding hypertension and BP measurement in children, and to determine the impact of educational sessions on their AKP. In a cross-sectional study, a self-designed questionnaire composed of several questions about AKP was prepared and validated. After obtaining informed consent, the questionnaire was distributed online to medical students and pediatric physicians with 168 responses, 140 medical students, and 28 pediatric physicians. This was followed by an educational awareness session about measuring blood pressure and hypertension in children. After the session, a post-awareness questionnaire was administered, gathering 145 responses. The average scores for AKP were calculated, and pre- and post-awareness session responses were compared within each group, P < .05 was regarded as significant. Among the medical students, 53.6% were somewhat aware of pediatric hypertension; 29.3% measured BP during their pediatric course, and 85% did not participate in pediatric hypertension education. Among physicians, 12.5% were exposed to pediatric patients with hypertension in the past year, 25% never measured BP in routine pediatric visits, and only 25% used normative BP tables. Average scores (out of 5) for attitude, knowledge, and practices were 3.57 (0.55), 2.51 (0.71), and 2.42 (0.68), respectively, with significantly higher scores in post-educational session, 4.56 (0.47), 4.06 (0.72), and 4.25 (0.76), respectively. The AKP among medical students and pediatric physicians regarding pediatric hypertension are inadequate, ranging from little to moderate. The impact of educational sessions is significant and very useful and should be incorporated into the teaching of medical students especially in the last years of study and ground meetings of pediatric physicians.