BACKGROUND
Worldwide, hypertension is the third leading risk factor contributing to death, surpassed only
by malnutrition and smoking. 1 Hypertension is common and treatable and because
uncontrolled hypertension has serious consequences, preventive measures and control of
blood pressure should be a high priority. A healthy lifestyle remains the cornerstone of the
management of blood pressure (BP) for all severities of hypertension. It is possible to prevent
the development of hypertension and to lower blood pressure levels by simply adopting a
healthy lifestyle. 2 Health care workers can assess and contribute to the management of
hypertension with exercise adequately if the patient is educated and convinced that lifestyle
changes are essential and indeed the most cost effective method of obviating cardiovascular
disease.
METHODS
Patients with hypertension (N=110) were identified from a cohort of patients attending the
outpatients department of Carletonville Hospital, a district hospital situated in the mining town
of Carletonville, South Africa, and were then invited to participate in the study. A crosssectional
descriptive study design was used to determine the knowledge and attitudes of these
patients with respect to the importance of lifestyle modification in the management of
hypertension. This was achieved by administering a questionnaire. Descriptive and inferential
statistical methods were employed to analyze the data.
RESULTS
The largest number of respondents fell in the 50-59 year old age groups (28%). Females (62%)
made up a significant majority of the study population. The population breakdown included the
following: Black respondents were 75%, while 24 % were white and 1% coloured. Body Mass
Index was more than 25 in 81% of the respondents and 84% of the population had schooling
levels below high school. Fifty seven percent (57%) of the respondents ate fried foods regularly,
70 % cooked with salt, 18% add salt to their food, while 14% ate red meat regularly and 26 %
consumed alcohol, with 6 % having more than 3 beers/day. The majority of participants led sedentary lifestyles according to the physical activity score, with
74% having little or no activity. At the time of the study 69% had blood pressure (BP) levels
above 140/90 mmHg with only 42% knowing what their normal BP should be. Seventy seven
percent (77%) believed that exercise lowers BP, and only 30% reported having received such
advice from a medical professional. Ninety five percent (95%) believed that a balanced diet is
important in controlling hypertension and fifty one percent (51%) reported having being
advised by a medical professional about a balanced diet. Ninety four percent (94%) knew that
adding salt to food affects BP and sixty nine percent (69%) reported having being told by a
medical professional about the effects of excessive salt intake in their diets. Eighty percent
(80%) believed that alcohol affects blood pressure and forty four percent (44%) reported having
received such information from a medical professional. Seventy five percent (75%) believed
that smoking affects BP and thirty six percent (36%) got this information from a medical
professional.
DISCUSSION
The results indicate that respondents reported having received advice about lifestyle
modification from medical professionals. The advice varied between areas of lifestyle change,
which included education on diet, alcohol, smoking and exercise. The most frequently given
advice was on diet and salt intake, with exercise being the least often information provided to
the patients by medical professionals. Reduced salt intake advice was the most frequently
reported (69%), followed by a balanced diet (51%), reduced alcohol intake (44%), not smoking
(35%) and benefits of exercise (30%).Despite this most of the respondents were leading
sedentary lifestyles, were overweight (BMI>25) and had BP`s greater than 140/90 mmHg . The
reasons provided for not exercising varied from “not being used to it”, “no- time” to “body
pain”. Twenty one percent (21%) were not on a proper diet due to financial reasons, 16% stated
lack of information as the reason and 9% just found unhealthy food to be very tempting.
CONCLUSION
The results of this study suggest that although patients do receive advice on lifestyle
modification, it is not effective in changing patient behavior, and may therefore be inadequate
and not emphasized enough and also not all patients are advised by medical professionals
about lifestyle change. The reason for this is not known. Greeff (2006) in his study emphasized
that building a trusting relationship between the healthcare worker and the patient is one of
the most important aspects when motivating patients. 2
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:wits/oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/11047 |
| Date | 17 January 2012 |
| Creators | Rakumakoe, Mmamontsheng Dulcy |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | application/pdf |
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