title: Impact of Literacy on the Prevalence, Awareness, Treatment andControl of Hypertension in Iran.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Hypertension is an important global health concern claiming 7.1 million lives annually. Literacy, as an essential element of the health education, and its relationship with health has previously been studied. However, few studies have been conducted on the association between literacy and health outcomes. To assess the association between educational level and hypertension, awareness and hypertension control in the north of Iran were the main objectives of this study.
  
  
  METHODS
  The present study was a population-based cross-sectional study carried out on 3497 subjects aged 15-65 years using stratified and cluster sampling. Interviewers recorded the data using a multidimensional questionnaire, including blood pressure level. Blood pressure was measured three times with 5-minute intervals and defined based on JNC-7.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Totally, 21.2 %(741 cases) of our patients suffered from hypertension and illiterate people were significantly more aware of their disease (P=0.011). Among the aware group, at least 89.6% (435 cases) used one method to control their disease; this however was not statistically significant among the educational levels. Control of hypertension was significantly greater in college educated group than in illiterate group (32.4% vs. 68.8%; P=0.001). Logistic regression analysis revealed that illiteracy is a risk factor for hypertension (P<0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In spite of the fact that awareness in illiterate people was high, the rate of hypertension control was low in this group. Prevention, detection, treatment, and control of hypertension especially in illiterate people should receive high priority.
authors.affiliation: Golestan Cardiovascular Research Center,School of Medicine , Golestan University of Medical Sciences ,Gorgan,Iran.
authors.forename: Gholamreza
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Veghari
authors.forename: Mehdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sedaghat
authors.forename: Siavash
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Maghsodlo
authors.forename: Samieh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Banihashem
authors.forename: Pooneh
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Moharloei
authors.forename: Abdolhamid
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Angizeh
authors.forename: Ebrahim
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tazik
authors.forename: Abbas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Moghaddami
keywords: Awareness; Control; Hypertension; Literacy; Treatment