Ahmed Ali Abdalla1. 1. Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester, UK; Faculty of Medicine, University of Khartoum, Sudan. Email: ahmed.abdalla2@nhs.net.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Hypertension has long been recognised as a major risk factor for coronary artery disease, stroke and kidney disease. Despite a multitude of new pharmacological agents, in the Sudan, a significant proportion of hypertensive patients' blood pressure remains uncontrolled. An important, often underutilised treatment approach is therapeutic lifestyle changes (TLC). This study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of patients with regard to TLC in the management of hypertension in a Khartoum locality in 2016. METHODS: The study was cross sectional and descriptive. Data were collected via structured interviews using a questionnaire. Full coverage of patients attending Ahmed Gasim and Al-Shaab hospitals for follow up during August and September 2016 was carried out. Descriptive and inferential statistics were utilised for data analysis. RESULTS: We identified 112 patients for participation in this study. There was a slight preponderance of females (54.5%) and older age, with 58% in the 55- to 70-year age group. When assessed for knowledge on lifestyle and habits that affect blood pressure, respondents were most familiar with the fact that salt consumption affects blood pressure, 93.8% answering correctly. After knowledge scores were calculated, only 31.3% of participants had above-average knowledge on blood pressure and TLC. The lifestyle change the respondents were least adherent to was regular exercise, with 59.8% of participants struggling with this. Participants' most-cited obstacle was lack of motivation, the same answer being most frequent for each lifestyle change. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated that although the hypertensive patients were generally aware of the importance of TLC in its management, they struggled to implement this. The researcher believes that novel approaches are needed to help motivate patients who are diagnosed with hypertension in a third-world country such as Sudan, and apply their knowledge regarding TLC.
BACKGROUND: Hypertension has long been recognised as a major risk factor for coronary artery disease, stroke and kidney disease. Despite a multitude of new pharmacological agents, in the Sudan, a significant proportion of hypertensive patients' blood pressure remains uncontrolled. An important, often underutilised treatment approach is therapeutic lifestyle changes (TLC). This study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of patients with regard to TLC in the management of hypertension in a Khartoum locality in 2016. METHODS: The study was cross sectional and descriptive. Data were collected via structured interviews using a questionnaire. Full coverage of patients attending Ahmed Gasim and Al-Shaab hospitals for follow up during August and September 2016 was carried out. Descriptive and inferential statistics were utilised for data analysis. RESULTS: We identified 112 patients for participation in this study. There was a slight preponderance of females (54.5%) and older age, with 58% in the 55- to 70-year age group. When assessed for knowledge on lifestyle and habits that affect blood pressure, respondents were most familiar with the fact that salt consumption affects blood pressure, 93.8% answering correctly. After knowledge scores were calculated, only 31.3% of participants had above-average knowledge on blood pressure and TLC. The lifestyle change the respondents were least adherent to was regular exercise, with 59.8% of participants struggling with this. Participants' most-cited obstacle was lack of motivation, the same answer being most frequent for each lifestyle change. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated that although the hypertensive patients were generally aware of the importance of TLC in its management, they struggled to implement this. The researcher believes that novel approaches are needed to help motivate patients who are diagnosed with hypertension in a third-world country such as Sudan, and apply their knowledge regarding TLC.
Authors: Véronique L Roger; Alan S Go; Donald M Lloyd-Jones; Emelia J Benjamin; Jarett D Berry; William B Borden; Dawn M Bravata; Shifan Dai; Earl S Ford; Caroline S Fox; Heather J Fullerton; Cathleen Gillespie; Susan M Hailpern; John A Heit; Virginia J Howard; Brett M Kissela; Steven J Kittner; Daniel T Lackland; Judith H Lichtman; Lynda D Lisabeth; Diane M Makuc; Gregory M Marcus; Ariane Marelli; David B Matchar; Claudia S Moy; Dariush Mozaffarian; Michael E Mussolino; Graham Nichol; Nina P Paynter; Elsayed Z Soliman; Paul D Sorlie; Nona Sotoodehnia; Tanya N Turan; Salim S Virani; Nathan D Wong; Daniel Woo; Melanie B Turner Journal: Circulation Date: 2011-12-15 Impact factor: 29.690
Authors: Marianne E Gee; Asako Bienek; Norman R C Campbell; Christina M Bancej; Cynthia Robitaille; Janusz Kaczorowski; Michel Joffres; Sulan Dai; Femida Gwadry-Sridar; Robert P Nolan Journal: Am J Cardiol Date: 2011-12-10 Impact factor: 2.778
Authors: May Nasser Bin-Jumah; Muhammad Shahid Nadeem; Sadaf Jamal Gilani; Bismillah Mubeen; Inam Ullah; Sami I Alzarea; Mohammed M Ghoneim; Sultan Alshehri; Fahad A Al-Abbasi; Imran Kazmi Journal: Antioxidants (Basel) Date: 2022-01-26