Hypertension knowledge, awareness, and attitude among the hypertensive population in Kuala Lumpur and rural areas in Selangor, Malaysia

Aims: People’s knowledge, awareness, and attitude (KAA) about hypertension are the cornerstone of hypertension control and/or prevention. Thus, the aim of this study was to assess the level of KAA of hypertensive populations about their disease and compare the level of KAA between rural and urban areas in Selangor, Malaysia. Subjects and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at Hospital Kuala Lumpur and six rural areas in Selangor, Malaysia. A valid questionnaire was used to evaluate the level of KAA of the Malaysian hypertensive population. One thousand subjects were recruited by the non-probability convenience sampling method. Results: The mean age of the participants was 48 years old. Most of them (51.3%) had a moderate knowledge, 31.9% expressed fair awareness, and 48.8% showed moderate attitude regarding hypertension. Statistical analyses of the data revealed that the level of knowledge was found to be significantly associated with gender, age, race, education level, and source of information about hypertension (p < 0.05). The level of awareness was found to be significantly associated with race, marital status, and education level (p < 0.05). In addition, the participants’ attitude towards hypertension was significantly associated with age, race, marital status, and education level (p < 0.05). There was no significant variation in the level of knowledge and attitude among rural and urban respondents (p > 0.05), whereas there was a statistically significant difference in the level of awareness between participants from urban and rural areas (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Efforts are needed to increase KAA about hypertension through health campaigns in public places and via the media to decrease hypertensive complications and its global epidemic.