Assessing Publics’ Knowledge About Hypertension in a Community-Dwelling Sample

BACKGROUND: Hypertension is one of the major risk factors for cardiovascular diseases that affect a high proportion of people worldwide. Understanding people's levels of knowledge about hypertension might contribute effectively to nurses' efforts to prevent, treat, and control the disease. OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study were to identify the levels of knowledge about hypertension disease among Jordanian adults and to identify differences in knowledge about hypertension on the basis of sociodemographic and clinical variables. METHODS: A convenience sample was used in this descriptive comparison design as was the Hypertension Knowledge-Level Scale, which measures 6 dimensions of knowledge about hypertension (definition, treatment, drug compliance, lifestyle, diet, and complications). RESULTS: There were 284 participants, and the mean total knowledge about hypertension was 73.65. The participants had higher levels of knowledge about lifestyle and complications; lower scores were recorded for definition of hypertension as well as the relationship between diet and hypertension. Participants with higher education levels, who watched health programs, exercised regularly, visited their physicians regularly, and had other chronic diseases, had greater knowledge about hypertension. CONCLUSIONS: Although the total level of knowledge about hypertension is good among the participants, more efforts are needed to improve all dimensions of hypertension-related knowledge. Sociodemographic and clinical variables have significant relationships with levels of knowledge about hypertension. This necessitates the importance of considering these variables when designing and providing health educational programs.