Attitude and Self Care Practice on Hypertension among Antihypertensive Medication Users in a Tertiary Care Hospital Nepal

Background: Hypertension a “silent killer” is a serious global health problem, whose prevalence is increasing in Nepal. This study aimed to determine the attitude and practice of hypertension among antihypertensive medication users in a tertiary care teaching hospital in western Nepal. Methodology: A hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 136 hypertensive patients under medication, aged ≥30 years, and visiting medical outpatient department, medical ward, and geriatric ward, using a non-probability convenience sampling technique. Semistructured questionnaires were used for data collection through interviews. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used, and a p-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The maximum number of patients (36; 26.5%) was in the age range of 50-60 years with a mean (SD) of 56.74 (12.58). Most of 77(56.6%) were male, Hindu, 95(69.9%), upper caste people (40; 29.4%), illiterate (30; 22.1%), house maker (37; 27.2), and monthly family income of 21,000 and above (66; 48.5).Almost half of the patients (69; 50.7%) had a positive attitude and more than half (71; 52.2%) had performed adequate self-care practice. Selected variables such as educational status and dietary pattern and attitude were significantly associated, whereas no association was found between sociodemographic variables and self-care practice. Attitude and self-care practices were found strongly associated with one another ( p=0.002 ). Conclusion: Hypertensive patients were found with better level of attitude and adequate self-care practice. Educational interventions and awareness programs on dietary aspects should be focused for improving the attitude and practice of all the patient groups.