title: Knowledge, attitude and practice (kap) of primary health care physicians and nurses towards hypertension: a study from dammam, saudi arabia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the quality of management of hypertensive patients attending Primary Health Care Center (PHC) in Dammam city and to determine factors that possibly affect it.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross sectional study and direct interview.
  
  
  METHODS
  Dammam city.
  
  
  METHODS
  All doctors and nurses from a randomly selected sample of Primary Health Care Centers during April 1994.
  
  
  METHODS
  Measuring the knowledge, attitude and practice of doctors and nurses about hypertension management.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Hypertension is regarded as an important health problem in Saudi Arabia in the opinion of majority of doctors (80'0) and nurses (69%). Almost half of the doctors and nurses believe that nurses are sufficiently qualified to measure blood pressure of patients. Most of the doctors (96.7%) and nurses (86%) depend merely on face-to-face education of patients Thirty percent of doctors and 34% of nurses think that the care for hypertensive patients in their Primary Health Care Centers is inadequate.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Offering on job training of both physicians and nurses on hypertension management. Producing a well planned protocol on the national level. Implementing a total quality management and medical audit system to PHC centers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Family and Community Medicine, King Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Ai-Dharrab
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Mangoud
authors.forename: M F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Mohsen