ASSESSMENT OF KNOWLEDGE REGARDING HYPERTENSION AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Background: Hypertension is a major health problem in Pakistan. The objective of the study was to determine the distribution of knowledge regarding hypertension among the university students. Material & Methods: This cross sectional study was conducted in Faculty of Pharmacy, Gomal University, D.I.Khan from January, 2016 to March, 2016. A sample of 464 students was selected by convenience sampling technique, enrolled in various departments of Gomal University. Refusal was the only exclusion criteria. Socio-demographic variables were gender, age groups and departments, whereas research variables were knowledge regarding hypertension and source of information. Data collection instrument was a pretested, structured questionnaire, administered to students having twelve items. Yes, No and Don’t Know were the choices given against each item. All variables being categorical, were expressed in counts and percentages. Data were analyzed by descriptive analysis plan through IBM SPSS version 20. Results: Out of 464 students 303(65.31%) were males and 161(34.69%) were females. Three hundred and twenty (68.97%) students were from Faculty of Pharmacy, 29(6.26%) from Biological Sciences Department, 33(7.11%) from Institute of Chemical Sciences, 35(7.54%) from Business Administration Department and 47(10.12%) students were from ICIT Department. Three hundred and thirty six (72.4%) students were having good knowledge while 128(27.58%) students were having poor knowledge. Regarding source of information, the response rate of academic learning was 200(43.10%), Newspaper 100(21.55%), Brochures/ Pictures 12(2.58%), Health workers 59(12.27%) and Internet 93(20%) . Conclusion: University students have good knowledge regarding hypertension. Academic learning and newspapers being the common sources of information.