Key result
Family history of hypertension linked to ~52% lower likelihood of good self-care in hypertensive adults.
Why the study?
Adherence to self-care practices essential for blood pressure control remains inconsistent, making the understanding of self-care behaviours and perceived social support important for hypertension management.
Cross-Sectional (n=240)
No
Odds Ratio: 0.48 (95% CI 0.3–0.78)
p-value: p=0.003
Nearly half of hypertensive adults in an urban Indian setting demonstrated suboptimal self-care, emphasizing the role of family support in improving adherence to hypertension management.
Patients with family history of hypertension may need targeted self-care support; this cross-sectional association leaves open causality and intervention effects.
Hypertension is a major public health concern in urban settings due to lifestyle factors such as unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, and stress. Effective self-care practices including medication adherence and lifestyle modifications are essential for maintaining blood pressure control and preventing complications. However, adherence to these practices remains inconsistent. Hence, understanding self-care behaviours among adults is important for strengthening hypertension management strategies. The study objective is to determine the self-care practices among hypertensive individuals aged 30 years and above to assess perceived social support among hypertensive individuals. A cross-sectional study was conducted over a period of six months among 240 hypertensive individuals aged 30 years and above at an Urban Health Training Center (UHTC) affiliated with a tertiary care teaching hospital in Hyderabad. Participants were selected from a sampling frame of 500 using simple random sampling from a follow-up register. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire incorporating the H-SCALE for assessing medication adherence, diet, physical activity, tobacco exposure, alcohol intake, and weight management, and MSPSS scale for evaluating perceived social support. Among the 240 study participants (Mean Age ± SD: 55.2 ± 12.7 years; 51.7% male), 48.8% had good self-care practices. Domain wise adherence was the highest for alcohol restriction (72.5%), tobacco non-use (67.9%), medication adherence (65.8%) and low-salt diet (62.5%), and lowest for physical activity (42.9%) and weight management (10.8%). After adjusting the sociodemographic and clinical variables using multivariable logistic regression, family history of hypertension emerged as the significant independent predictor with affected individuals less likely to engage in self-care than those without a family history (AOR = 0.48; 95% CI: 0.30–0.78; p = 0.003). Among the good self-care practitioners, family-domain MSPSS scores were significantly higher ( p = 0.001). Nearly half of hypertensive adults demonstrated suboptimal self-care, particularly in weight management and physical activity. Family history independently worsened outcomes, whereas family support improved adherence. These findings underscore the importance of integrating family-centred, theory-driven behavioural interventions into routine hypertension management to meaningfully improve patient outcomes.
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Pokkuluri et al. (2026) conducted a cross-sectional in Hypertension (n=240). Family history of hypertension vs. No family history of hypertension was evaluated on Good self-care practices (AOR 0.48, 95% CI 0.30-0.78, p=0.003). A family history of hypertension was associated with a significantly lower likelihood of engaging in good self-care practices among hypertensive adults (AOR 0.48; 95% CI 0.30-0.78; p=0.003).
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