Knowledge related to nutrition and hypertension management practices of adults in Ga-Rankuwa day clinics

Abstract

Hypertension is a global, non-communicable chronic disease being asymptomatic and known as the silent killer with signs and symptoms only occurring when a target organ is damaged. Being a condition common in South Africa, hypertension is also a risk factor for cerebro-vascular incidents, myocardial infarction, left ventricular hypertrophy, renal disease and retinopathy. Black adults in an urban environment appear to be especially vulnerable to excessive increases in blood pressure. The research question explored was what was the knowledge of hypertensive adults attending day clinics in Ga-Rankuwa regarding nutrition and hypertension management practices. An exploratory strategy was used as no similar research had previously been conducted in Ga-Rankuwa. A cross sectional survey design was used to investigate hypertensive adults attending the three primary health clinics in Ga-Rankuwa. The sampling method was convenient and the sample size 101 participants. Two data gathering methods were used, these being physical measurements and self-report. For the self-report, a structured interview was conducted. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics. The results indicated a lack of knowledge regarding nutrition and management of hypertension. The proportion of participants with uncontrolled hypertension was high (58.6%) and non-compliance with medication occurred frequently (58.1%). A third (28.7%) of the sample lacked knowledge of the complications of hypertension (28.7%). A community-based intervention, based on the results of the study, is recommended

Knowledge of hypertension and its management among hypertensive patients on chronic medicines at primary health care public sector facilities in South Africa; findings and implications

“…This is similar to a study conducted in Nigeria [29]. This suggests that patients are likely to comply with their medicines with increasing knowledge about the benefits of taking their medicines, similar to other studies [21][22][23][24][25]. Overall, increasing patients' knowledge can improve hypertension management [20][21][22].…”

“…This high rate of illiteracy is a concern if only typed instructions are given to patients. Without formal education, coupled with lack of health care literacy about hypertension including how to manage it and appropriate lifestyle changes, as well as not remembering what information has been received (Tables 2 and 4, Figure 1), similar to other studies [3,32,37], this can impact negatively on BP control [21][22][23][24][25][26], increasing the rate of uncontrolled hypertension. This contributes to the high rates of uncontrolled hypertension seen in our study (Table 1).…”

“…However, even though medicines are free to treat hypertension, it was found that the majority of hypertensive patients on chronic treatment at PHC facilities are not well controlled [19]. The lack of hypertension specific knowledge and the lack of literacy among hypertensive patients, similar to other studies, were suggested as possible reasons for uncontrolled hypertension in SA [19,[21][22][23][24][25][26].…”

“…Inadequate management of hypertension is the result of a number of factors including a lack of resources and lifestyle modifications, non-adherence to medication, and a lack of understanding of the disease [7,[13][14][15][16][17][18][19], with non-adherence rising in low and middle income countries (LMIC) due to lack of resources and access [7]. Patients who have hypertension knowledge can participate in the management of their disease [7,[20][21][22], with the inability to read and interpret medication instructions and BP readings contributing to uncontrolled BP [23][24][25]. Evidence has also shown that little or no education increases the possibility of having hypertension or its complications [22,[24][25][26].…”

A theory guided nursing intervention for management of hypertension among adults at rural area

“…Regarding smoking, more than half of the adults with hypertension had smokers in their family. This finding is supported by Nkosi (2010) [25] who reported that other risk factor for hypertension is high blood cholesterol and DM were discovered in the study sample. Also, obesity, hypertension, diabetes and stroke were the common risk factors from their mother's side.…”