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KNOWLEDGE ON CAUSES, MANAGEMENT, PREVENTION AND COMPLICATIONS OF HYPERTENSION AMONG PATIENTS ACCESSING HEALTHCARE IN MEDICAL OUT-PATIENT DEPARTMENT OF OSUN STATE SPECIALIST HOSPITAL OSOGBO, NIGERIA

This study assesses the knowledge of the patients attending Osun State Specialist Hospital, Osogbo on the causes and
prevention of hypertension with a view to determine the modalities for treatment and possible complications. Descriptive
research design was adopted for this study and balloting was used to select 100 respondents. The instrument used was
questionnaire divided into two parts. The content and face validity were done by experts in the field while the reliability
was determined with Cronbach Alpha and yielded reliability coefficient of 0.787. Data was analysed through descriptive
statistics which involve percentages, graph and inferential statistics of chi square analysis, with p value of 0.05. The
result of the demographic characteristics shows that most of the respondents are from 42 years and above and are
males. Also, majority of the respondents are Christians, Yoruba, married and are retirees. The findings further reveals
that the respondents have knowledge of the meaning (58.8%) and causes (65.5%) of hypertension but poor knowledge
on the prevention of hypertension (43%). Lastly, this study reveals that the respondents have a good knowledge of the
management of hypertension (62%) but poor knowledge of the complication of hypertension (31%) and the sources of
the respondents’ knowledge are; by routine check-up, mass media and health workers. The findings have shown that
there is statistically significant relationship between the effect of hypertension complications and respondents’ level of
education. It is suggested that regular check-up and the combination of orthodox and traditional ways of managing blood
pressure are complimentary.

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