ASSESSING THE KNOWLEDGE, AWARENES, ATTITUDES AND PERCEPTIONS OF HYPERTENSION AMONG ADULTS (19-60YEARS) IN THE SUNYANI MUNICIPALITY, BRONG AHAFO REGION, GHANA

Abstract

The study investigated the knowledge, awareness, attitudes and perception of hypertension among adults (19-60 years). The study was conducted in the Sunyani Municipality, Brong Ahafo Region, Ghana. A descriptive cross section research survey design with a multistage comprising cluster sampling, systematic sampling, and purposive sampling techniques was used with a sample size of 343 respondents. The following are the major findings; out of 343 respondents 78 were hypertensive. Prevalence for the entire study respondent was 22.7%. There were 221 females and 53 of them were hypertensive. The prevalence for the female respondent was 24.0%. There were 122 males and 25 of them were hypertensive. So the prevalence of the male respondent was 20.5%. The findings of this study showed that hypertension is highly prevalent among adults (19-60 years). Out of the 343 respondent, (62.1%) of them in the present study had heard of hypertension with majority (70.5%) being males. Most of the respondents did not know their current blood pressure status. It was shown that there was significant association between awareness of hypertension and demographic profile (no formal education (p<0.0001; x2 = 22.52), tertiary education (p<0.0001; x2 = 19.3), cigarette smoking (p = 0.0414; x2 = 4.16), shisha smoking (p =0.0009; x2 = 11) and exercise (p < 0.0001; x2 = 36.09). Furthermore, the finding suggests that individuals who had no form of formal education (p<0.0001; x2 = 22.52) are more likely to become hypertensive than those who are educated. This may be attributed to the fact that persons who are educated stand the chance of being enlightened on hypertension and therefore adopt healthy lifestyles to avoid the condition. The study found a significant (p<0.0500) association between the perception that changing lifestyle (such as low salt intake, quit smoking and engaging in exercise) lowers hypertension. Finally, it was shown that there was a higher proportion between the perception that hypertension is an avoidable part of aging and socio-demographic characteristics.