THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PRIMARY HYPERTENSIVE PATIENTS’ KNOWLEDGE ON HYPERTENSION AND COMPLIANCE WITH SODIUM RESTRICTED DIET THERAPY, AT A REFERRAL HOSPITAL IN SWAZILAND

Abstract

One of the major health concerns in the healthcare field is the increasing number of primary hypertensive patients. Primary hypertension is a condition that occurs without underlying health problems, it is an asymptomatic, chronic, debilitating, and silent killer disease if it is uncontrolled. However, primary hypertension can be prevented and successfully controlled. This descriptive correlational study assessed: the primary hypertensive patients’ knowledge about hypertension, level of compliance with sodium restricted diet therapy, and the relationship between the primary hypertensive patients’ knowledge and compliance with sodium restricted diet therapy. The study was conducted at the Mbabane Government Hospital. The systematic probability sampling method was utilized to obtain a sample of N = 90 primary hypertensive patients. The researchers selected every fifth participant. There were 74 (82%) females and 16 males (18%), between 35 and 65 years of age. Subjects’ knowledge scores on hypertension was 58%, and compliance with sodium restricted diet therapy was 64% among both males and females. The correlation coefficient indicated a relationship that was not statistically significant (r = .09, p > .05).between knowledge and compliance. The findings suggest that there may be other factors that influence self-care on compliance, besides knowledge on hypertension.