The effect of patients' knowledge about hypertension on the control of high blood pressure

The Effect of Patients' Knowledge about Hypertension on the Control of High Blood Pressure Jūratė Rūta Jurkonienė and Ilona Griškėnaitė‘s Master Thesis/scientific advisor Prof. Virginija Grabauskienė; Vilnius University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Pathology, Forensic Medicine and Pharmacology. The topic of the Thesis: The effect of patients' knowledge about hypertension on the control of high blood pressure. The aim of the paper is to reveal whether patients' knowledge about hypertension has effect on the control of high blood pressure. For the aim to be reached the following tasks have been set: To assess hypertension patients’ knowledge of their disease: to find out whether patients know cardiovascular risk factors, know how to measure blood pressure, understand blood pressure results, and are aware of non-medical treatment specifics. To establish links between patient characteristics and adherence to non-medical treatment. To highlight differences on knowledge about the disease in different patient groups which are based on sex, age, education, residence, level of income, marital status, duration of the disease. To find out whether patients appreciate pharmacists’ recommendations. The methodology: a quantitative analysis has been carried out. A questionnaire made by the authors of the paper was used as the instrument of the analysis. Results: the analysis of arterial hypertension patients’ knowledge on cardiovascular risk factors, non-medical treatment specifics showed that the more risk factors patient possesses the lesser knowledge he/she has (those with TS lower than 12, (12.8%) have 3 risk factors, those with TS higher than 12, have 5.6%). Adherence to non-medical treatment recommendations depends on the education: 47.3% of those who have higher education comply with recommendations, from the other categories - 1/3 demonstrate adherence. Adherence to non-medical treatment recommendations also depends on sex, age, marital status, level on income, duration of disease, cardiovascular risk factors but does not depend on residence. Patients’ knowledge average TS 11,85 ± 6,28. TS of patients younger than 50 years is higher (14,47 ± 5,64) than the other age groups’. Statistically low knowledge level was seen among widows (9,86 ± 6,27), people of low income (10,34 ± 6,0), patients who suffer from the disease more than 20 years (9,63 ± 5,70), and those who have very high blood pressure (8,37 ± 6,36). Statistically relevant (p