Hypertension related knowledge and behaviour associated with awareness, treatment and control of hypertension in a rural hypertensive population: a community based, cross-sectional survey

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Hypertension-related knowledge and behaviour have been identified as influential factors associated with awareness, treatment and control of hypertension in urban regions. However, there were few studies on rural areas. This study aims to investigate whether hypertension related knowledge and behaviour were associated with hypertension awareness, treatment and control in Gaoyou, a rural area of Jiangsu province, China. METHODS: A cross-sectional, population-based survey was conducted among hypertensive individuals in rural areas of Gaoyou, the south-eastern of China in 2010. We identified 1943 subjects with hypertension among 4536 subjects participated in this study and collected information about medical history, use of medication, hypertension related knowledge and behaviour by a standardized questionnaire. RESULTS: This study showed that 41.07% of subjects were aware of their disease, 30.01% of subjects were taking antihypertensive medication and 5.04% of subjects controlled their blood pressure. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that subjects who knew the threshold, the lifelong treatment of hypertension and measured blood pressure at least once a year had better detection, treatment or control of hypertension. CONCLUSION: Hypertension related knowledge and behaviour were associated with awareness, treatment and control rate of hypertension in the rural areas of south-eastern China.