Poor awareness of hypertension self-management practices persists: study

A recent study conducted in Nigeria from December 2019 to February 2020 has revealed many individuals with little to no awareness of hypertension self-management practices.

In this qualitative study, the authors used in-depth interviews with hypertensive patients and/family carers who were receiving care at a government-owned hospital in north-central Nigeria. Patients with hypertension, receiving care in the study setting, aged at least 55 years, and who had given their consent to participate in this research were eligible for analysis.

The authors developed the interview topic guide from the literature and via pretesting. They carried out all interviews face-to-face and analysed the data using NVivo version 12.

Twenty-five patients and 13 family carers met the inclusion criteria for the study. Three themes were explored to determine the challenges for complying with hypertension self-management practices. These barriers included personal, family/societal, and clinic/organization factors.

Notably, support was found to be the key enabling factor for self-management practices, which were mainly derived from three sources, namely family members, community, and government.

According to the participants, they did not receive lifestyle management advice from healthcare professionals, and they were not aware of the importance of adhering to a low-salt diet, as well as engaging in physical activities.

“Providing financial support, free educational seminars, free blood pressure checks, and free medical care for the elderly could improve hypertension self-management practices among patients living with hypertension,” the authors said.