Knowledge and Perception of Hypertension in an Urban Community in Cross River State, Nigeria

Quick Response Code Abstract: Hypertension is still a global burden till date with highest prevalence shifting from the highand middle-income countries to the low-income countries of the world. Also, adequate knowledge and right perception of hypertension is still very low in such countries which most countries in sub-Saharan Africa belong. The study aims to determine the knowledge and perception of hypertension with associated factors in Ugep, an urban community in South-southern part of Nigeria. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among adults (18 years and above) residing in Ugep community of Cross River State in South-southern Nigeria. A total of 192 consenting adults were recruited consecutively into the study during a medical outreach organized by Medical and Dental Consultant Association of Nigeria in August, 2017. Majority of the study participants (81.3%) demonstrated poor knowledge of hypertension while only a few of them were still holding wrong perceptions about the causes of hypertension. Among the socio-demographic factors explored, only educational status showed a significant association (p = 0.02) with the knowledge of hypertension among the study participants having no formal education being the poorest (93.0%). The knowledge of hypertension is still low among the Ugep community of CRS with some level of wrong perception about hypertension still persistent. Continuous education of the adult population of Ugep community is advocated in order to improve knowledge and perception of hypertension.