High Blood Pressure Knowledge Among Primary Care Patients with Known Hypertension: A North Carolina Family Medicine Research Network (NC-FM-RN) Study

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Figure 1.
Number of knowledge items answered incorrectly (n = 516).

Table 1.

Characteristics of Survey Respondents (n = 530) and Non-respondents (n = 170)

	Respondents (% [95% CI])	Non-respondents (% [95% CI])	P
Age, years (mean [%])	59.6 (13.7)	54.2 (15.8)	<.001
Age category (years)
<45	14.2 (11.2–17.2)	27.7 (20.9–34.4)
45–65	50.4 (46.1–54.6)	47.1 (39.5–54.6)	<.001
>65	35.5 (31.4–39.6)	25.3 (18.7–31.9)
Male	31.5 (27.5–35.5)	44.4 (36.8–51.9)	.002
Race
African-American	32.5 (28.5–36.5)	48.2 (40.6–55.8)	<.001
White	67.5 (63.5–71.5)	51.8 (44.2–59.4)
Education
<High school	25.6 (21.9–29.4)	29.9 (22.9–37.0)
High school graduate	32.5 (28.5–36.5)	32.3 (25.2–39.5)	.49
Some college or more	41.9 (37.6–46.1)	37.7 (30.3–45.2)
Body mass index
<25 kg/m²	14.0 (11.0–16.9)	18.2 (12.4–24.1)
25–30 kg/m²	30.8 (26.8–34.7)	25.3 (18.7–31.9)	.23
>30 kg/m²	55.3 (51.0–59.5)	56.5 (48.9–64.0)
Self-reported health
Excellent or very good	21.2 (17.7–24.7)	15.9 (10.3–21.4)
Good	39.5 (35.3–43.7)	36.5 (29.2–3.8)	.12
Fair or poor	39.3 (35.1–43.5)	47.6 (40.1–55.2)
Current smoker	20.8 (17.3–24.3)	30.2 (23.2–37.2)	.01
Other cardiovascular conditions
Known heart disease	26.0 (22.1–29.9)	29.9 (22.4–37.4)	.35
Known diabetes	32.6 (28.4–36.7)	38.0 (30.1–45.9)	.22
History of stroke or mini- stroke	10.3 (7.6–13.1)	14.1 (8.4–19.7)	.20
Hypertension knowledge
2 or more items incorrect	22.3 (18.7–25.9)
1 item incorrect	34.1 (30.0–38.2)
No items incorrect	43.6 (39.3–47.9)

Table 2.

Percent of Respondents Incorrectly Answering Each Knowledge Question (n = 470–527)

	There is nothing you can do to prevent HBP	P	Most of the time, people with HBP don't feel it	P	HBP is not life-threatening	P	Taking medications will cure HBP	P	BP is high when recorded as over 140/90	P	Americans eat more salt and sodium than they need	P
All ages	22.1		26.2		6.7		19.0		13.7		2.8
Age category (years)
<45	13.5	.005	39.2	.002	0	<.001	12.2	.008	14.9	.71	2.7	.028
45–65	19.2		27.8		4.5		16.1		12.5		1.1
>65	29.6		18.8		12.4		26.1		15.0		5.4
Sex
Male	19.2	.28	22.3	.16	4.8	.24	18.0	.67	12.0	.42	3.1	.67
Female	23.4		28.1		7.5		19.5		14.6		2.4
Race
African-American	31.8	<.001	28.2	.47	8.9	.16	14.7	.022	15.9	.32	5.3	.02
White	17.4		25.3		5.6		16.3		12.7		1.7
Education
<HS	33.3	.002	29.5	.025	12.9	.002	23.3	.011	19.1	.13	5.3	.16
HS graduate	20.6		31.8		4.1		23.7		13.1		2.3
Some college or more	16.7		20.3		4.2		13.0		11.5		1.8
Body mass index
<25 kg/m²	26.0	.44	31.5	.54	13.9	.022	17.8	.85	11.0	.56	4.1	.77
25–30 kg/m²	19.0		25.3		6.8		18.0		12.5		2.5
>30 kg/m²	22.8		25.4		4.8		19.8		15.1		2.7
Self-reported health
Excellent or very good	15.2	.06	17.0	.001	4.5	.42	17.1	.48	14.3	.67	2.7	.83
Good	21.4		22.9		8.2		17.6		12.1		3.4
Fair or poor	26.6		34.6		6.3		21.6		15.1		2.4
Current smoker
Yes	17.6	.22	36.1	.008	4.6	.38	17.4	.66	15.6	.53	1.8	.46
No	23.0		23.5		7.0		19.3		13.3		3.1
Known heart disease
Yes	23.8	.55	26.2	.96	8.0	.34	21.4	.39	14.3	.81	2.4	.69
No	21.2		26.0		5.6		17.9		13.4		3.1
Known diabetes
Yes	25.2	.25	26.2	.96	8.1	.32	20.7	.45	14.5	.80	4.4	.24
No	20.5		26.1		5.8		17.9		13.6		2.4
History of stroke/mini-stroke
Yes	36.7	.013	30.6	.50	10.2	.25	35.4	.004	16.3	.59	4.1	.63
No	21.1		26.1		5.9		18.0		13.5		2.8

Table 3.

Bivariate Associations with Lower Hypertension Knowledge

	n (%)	P
Age category (years)
<45	16 (21.6)	.03
45–65	47 (18.1)
>65	52 (28.6)
Sex
Male	32 (19.3)	.26
Female	83 (23.7)
Race
African-American	49 (29.2)	.009
White	66 (19.0)
Education
<High school	43 (33.3)	<.001
High school graduate	40 (24.0)
Some college or more	31 (14.6)
BMI
<25 kg/m2	17 (23.6)	.44
25–30 kg/m2	29 (18.7)
>30 kg/m2	69 (23.9)
Self-reported health
Excellent or very good	19 (17.3)	.084
Good	41 (20.2)
Fair or poor	55 (27.2)
Current smoker
Yes	22 (21.0)	.74
No	92 (22.4)
Known heart disease
Yes	31 (24.8)	.33
No	72 (20.6)
Known diabetes
Yes	40 (25.5)	.21
No	66 (20.4)
History of stroke or mini-stroke
Yes	19 (39.6)	.003
No	86 (20.8)

Table 4.

Independent Associations* with Lower Hypertension Knowledge (n = 455)

	Odds Ratio (95% CI)	P
Age category (years)
<45	referent
45–65	0.63 (0.32–1.26)	.19
>65	1.23 (0.61–2.48)	.57
Race/ethnicity
African-American	1.77 (1.10–2.86)	.019
White	referent
Education
<High school	2.43 (1.34–4.41)	.003
High school graduate	1.50 (0.85–2.64)	.16
Some college or more	referent
Self-reported health
Excellent or very good	0.79 (0.41–1.54)	.49
Good	0.76 (0.45–1.28)	.30
Fair or poor	referent
History of stroke or mini-stroke	1.94 (1.00–3.75)	.05