Hypertension education: patient knowledge and satisfaction.
Education of patients with various diseases, including hypertension, usually occurs at an individual level through a patient's doctor as well as via various media campaigns which also includes general community education. To evaluate their effects, the knowledge of 84 patients with hypertension was evaluated by a simple 13 question true/false questionnaire and the results compared with 58 normotensive subjects matched for sex, age and educational status. A significant difference in knowledge about hypertension could not be elicited between the two groups even when compared for sex or educational status. However, subjects > 70 years of age (hypertensives and controls) demonstrated a lower level of knowledge (P < 0.05). Further questioning of the hypertensive group elicited a high level of satisfaction with their doctor's educational skills (68%) and 57% were satisfied with their own knowledge. Nevertheless, 70% requested more information about their disease. These results suggest a reasonable level of knowledge within the general community presumably reflecting community education programmes. While hypertensive patients were not more knowledgeable under the test conditions, they were reasonably satisfied with their knowledge which they stated came primarily from their doctor. Nevertheless, these findings question the effectiveness of some current patient education initiatives.
Carney
S
S
Vascular Disease Prevention and Research Service, John Hunter Hospital and Faculty of Medicine, University of Newcastle, Australia.
Gillies
A
A
Smith
A
A
Taylor
M
M
D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires