KNOWLEDGE OF THE PREVENTIVE MEASURES OF HYPERTENSION POSSESSED ADULTS IN ABIA SOUTH SENATORIAL ZONE OF ABIA STATE

Abstract

The asymptomatic nature of hypertension puts many people at risk of having hypertension 
without their knowledge that is to say that people with hypertension may not feel symptoms 
and because of this, this study was designed to determine the knowledge of the preventive 
measures of hypertension possessed by adults in Abia South Senatorial Zone of Abia State. 
Eight purposes, research questions and hypotheses guided the study and the null hypotheses 
were tested at 0.05 level of significances. A descriptive cross sectional survey design was 
used for the study; the area of the study was Abia South Senatorial Zone of Abia State. The 
population of the study consisted of 615276 adults in Abia South Senatorial Zone of Abia 
State. The sample size of the study consisted of 400 adults that is 191 males and 209 female 
adults. Multistage sampling procedure was used to determine the sample size also Taro 
yamane was used to calculate the sample size. The instrument for data collection was a 
research developed instrument titled; knowledge of the preventive measure of hypertension 
test (KPMHT) the validation of the instrument was done by three experts; the reliability of 
the instrument was established using cronbach Alpha Method and the co-efficient values was 
0.64. Mean and stand deviation was used to answer the research questions while Analysis of 
Variance (ANOVA) was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The 
findings of study showed that younger adults had low knowledge of hypertension; generally, 
the adults had good knowledge of the preventive measures of hypertension. Based on this 
conclusions; recommendation were made; there is need for health education programme on 
the preventive measures of hypertension and this education should be translated to the 
language the people can understand.