Background: Hypertension or high blood pressure is a global public health concern. It is a leading risk factor for stroke, ischemic heart disease, and other vascular diseases and it accounts for a large proportion of cardiovascular deaths. self-care is one important element of non-pharmacotherapeutic intervention for all hypertension patients. The study aims to determine the pattern of self-care practices and to estimate the factors associated with it, among hypertensive patients in the outpatient department.
Methods: A hospital-based, observational, cross-sectional study was conducted at the tertiary care center, Kurnool. 104 hypertensive participants were selected by simple random sampling. A Pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire to assess self-care practices was administered. ‘Data was entered and analyzed by using MS Excel 2007 and SPSS 23. Chi-square was used as a test of significance; with a p-value < 0.05 considered significant.
Results: Among 104 hypertensive patients 61.5 % were practicing good self-care. There was a statistically significant association with gender (0.002), living in urban (0.02), and with high socioeconomic status (0.003).
Conclusions: The findings revealed that the self-care practices among hypertensive patients were unsatisfactory in rural areas and those below the poverty line. These groups must be better educated and further monitored during routine healthcare delivery services.
Impact Factor
2022: 6.012
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