Background Hypertension is an important public health challenge and is a major risk factor for many other diseases. Lack of knowledge on the dangers of untreated hypertension, the benefits of better control and poor management practices are barriers for effective hypertensive care. Objective The aim of the study was to describe the level of knowledge on the disease, its complications and management strategies among hypertensive patients attending Medical Clinics at Teaching Hospital, Batticaloa, Sri Lanka. Methods A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted mong 424 patients diagnosed with 'essential hypertension' attending medical clinics. A pre-tested interviewer administered questionnaire was used for data collection. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 15. A scoring system was used to assess the overall knowledge of the participants. Results The study population consisted of 174(41%) males and 250(59%) females. Nearly 43% stated that blood pressure of 120/80mmHg was normal. Only 3.3% were aware that hypertension may be asymptomatic. The main aggravating factors for hypertension identified by participants were stress (59.2%) and high salt intake (50.9%). Organs damaged by poorly controlled hypertension were identified as the heart (50%) and kidneys (26%). Sixty four percent said that both medication and lifestyle modifications are useful to control hypertension. Blood pressure lowering strategies identified were reducing body weight (76.0%) and salt reduction (81.1%). Only 45.0% agreed that increased consumption of fruits and vegetables improves control of hypertension. A minority (2.4%) were unsure of non-pharmacological management strategies. Overall knowledge score was inadequate (<50%) among 391(92%), with a mean of 30.8% (SD ± 15.5) ranging from 4.4 -89.1%. Conclusions Inadequate knowledge on hypertension, its complications and management strategies was seen. Targeted health education strategies are urgently needed to improve knowledge to prevent consequences of poorly controlled hypertension.

Objective: Hypertension is an important public health challenge in both developing and developed countries. It is one of the commonest causes of death in Sri Lanka. The patients’ perception, beliefs and attitudes about management of hypertension have an independent effect on patients’ compliance in adapting their lifestyle behaviors. Thus, the purpose of this study was to describe the adapting self-care practices, attitudes among patients with hypertension. Methods: The cross sectional descriptive study was carried out among 424 hypertensive patients attending medical clinics, Teaching Hospital, Batticaloa, Sri Lanka. Systematic sampling technique was used to select participants. Interviewer administered questionnaire was used to collect the information and descriptive statistics was applied using SPSS software. Ethical clearance was obtained. Results: Majority was females (59%) and the mean age of the participants was 60.4 years (SD± 9.6) with 1-5 years duration. More than 65% of patients agreed that ‘Doctors listen and concern their problems’. More than half of the participants also agreed that ‘Doctors clearly explain their condition’ while majority agreed that ‘I can manage my disease’. About 92.0% have reported that they have not checked their blood pressure at home. Majority of participants (88%) agreed that ‘Avoidance of extra salt in their diet is good’. About 33.0% disagreed that ‘Regular physical exercise is essential to control blood pressure’. About 24.0% of participants disagreed that it is ‘Good to have fruits than deserts and sweets’ while less than 40.0% participants disagreed that ‘high blood pressure affects kidney functions, vision, blood vessels, and lead to stroke and ischemic heart disease’. Conclusion: Majority of the hypertensive patients believe that Doctors understand and concern about their disease and have also developed confidence in self-care. Though, creating a short clinic appointment with adequate knowledge need to be encouraged for their adapting self-practices on factors related to patients and physicians .

Introduction: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a common non-communicable disease (NCD) with numerous short and long term complications. Treatment of diabetes-related complications is costly to the patient and also to the national health structure. The patients who are aware of its complications are more likely to achieve better glycaemic control and to have lesser number of diabetes-related complications. The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge on acute and chronic complications of DM among Tamil patients with type 2 diabetes, attending the medical clinic, Teaching Hospital, Batticaloa, Sri Lanka. Method:This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted with a patient sample of 384 Tamil patients with type 2 diabetes.Data was collected using a pre-tested interviewer administered questionnaire.Results:The overall knowledge score on diabetes complications ranged from 0-79% with a mean of 28.32% (SD± 16.2%). The majority of the patients were aware that uncontrolled DM could lead to lifelong complications affecting different organs of the body. However, 88.3% obtained less than 50% overall knowledge score on diabetes complications. Around 55% of the participants had identified cataract as a major chronic complication of DM. Sixty percent and 53% of the patients were not able to recognize any symptoms of hypoglycaemia and hyperglycaemia respectively. Conclusion:Knowledge on diabetes complication was very poor among Tamil patients with type 2 diabetes. This highlights the need for better educational programmes on self-awareness on diabetes and related complications in order to reduce the morbidity and mortality pattern of diabetes. Running title: Knowledge on complications of Diabetes