Abstract
Background: Hypertension is among the major causes of myocardial infarction, stroke and renal failure. Awareness level in the community regarding the risk factors of hypertension may be helpful in the prevention, early detection and treatment of hypertension which may reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with it.
Aim:To evaluate the awareness level about the preventable and non-modifiable risk factors and complications of hypertension among the normotensive and hypertensive adult population of Arar city - KSA.
Methods:A total of 400 structured questionnaires have been distributed among the willing participants which included normotensive and hypertensive adults with age 18 years or above from the Arar city - KSA during the study period of March - April 2019. This questionnaire has been translated into the Arabic language for the better comprehension of the questions. The completely filled questionnaires have been included in the study for analysis.
Results: During the study period, a total of 400 profromas have been distributed among the adult willing participants. The completely filled questionnaires have been received from 312 participants with a response rate of 78%. These included 86 female and 226 male participants. The analysed data revealed that the participants with higher level of education (graduation or above) have sufficient knowledge (more than 50 %) regarding the risk factors and complication of hypertension as compared to the participants with low level of education (secondary school level or below). The p is significant (<0.0001) regarding the knowledge of risk factors of hypertension among the persons with higher level of education as compared to lower level of education and p value is 0.0031 regarding the knowledge of complications of hypertension among the adults with higher education as compared to low level of education and this p value is also significant.
Conclusion: The higher level of education among the community is associated with raised level of awareness about the risk factors and complications of hypertension.