Knowledge of senior students in the definition, classification, and approaches to the treatment of arterial hypertension. Final results of the PHYSTARH project

Background. Arterial hypertension is a modifiable risk factor for the development of life-threatening cardiovascular complications. Early diagnosis and optimal treatment are the key to success in the fight against this pathology. Aim. To analyze the knowledge of senior medical students from different regions in the basic issues of hypertension. Materials and methods. The article presents the results of the first stage of the multicenter PHYSTARH study (the full name of the project is Physicians and undergraduates knowledge in arterial hypertension treatment). An anonymous questionnaire (pharmacoepidemiological survey) was conducted among 314 senior medical students from 6 cities of Russia and Ukraine. Results. The study revealed the average level of senior students knowledge. The average level of correct answers to the questions in the first part of the questionnaire was 49.4%. The minimum level of correct answers was obtained in the questions of determining hypertension by the value of home blood pressure monitoring, determining the degree of hypertension for a blood pressure of 140/110 mm Hg, the incidence of resistant hypertension, indications for drug correction of high normal blood pressure, the choice of the optimal class of drugs for initial antihypertensive therapy. The maximum level of correct answers was registered only for the question about the definition of hypertension. Conclusion. The results of the study indicate an insufficiently high level of students basic knowledge in the classification and treatment of hypertension.