Hypertension prevalence, knowledge, attitude & awareness among pharmacists in Jos, Nigeria

Background: Knowledge and awareness of blood pressure (BP) play an important role in the successful control of hypertension and prevention of hypertension-related complications.

Objectives: The study is aimed at estimating the prevalence, knowledge, awareness, and attitudes of hypertension and its risk factors among pharmacists in Jos, Nigeria.

Methods: A cross-sectional prospective study was conducted during the month of July 2013 among pharmacists in Jos metropolis using a self-administered questionnaire and BP measurement. Factors associated with hypertension knowledge, awareness and attitude were analyzed by Kruskal-Wallis test or student t-test as appropriate while multivariate regression assessed factors associated with hypertension.

Results: In all, 200 pharmacists, median age 35 years (IQR 28-46 years), 72% males participated in the study. The prevalence of hypertension was 8%. Overall, 90% of respondents had good knowledge of hypertension, while 82% had a poor attitude towards hypertension. Inadequate hypertension related knowledge was an independent risk factor for stage 1 hypertension (adjusted odd ratio 10.9; 95% confidence interval: 1.2-54.6), adjusting for age, sex, body mass index, marital status and length of employment.

Conclusion: A low prevalence and adequate knowledge of hypertension was observed among pharmacists in Jos, however, the attitude/awareness of hypertension was very poor. Interventions to improve awareness and reduce hypertension risk among pharmacists are needed.