Factors associated with knowledge, attitude, and practice (kap) towards the prevention of hypertension among people aged 30-64 years in Tonglu county, China: a cross-sectional study

Introduction: The Global Burden of Disease study shows that poor blood pressure control remains one of the leading risk factors for global burden and death. Most of the general population had a good understanding of hypertension and satisfactory attitudes, but the participant's level of practice was not high. In China, about 270 million people have hypertension, and in Zhejiang, the prevalence of hypertension is higher than the national average. Therefore, knowledge, attitude, and practice toward hypertension play a crucial role in hypertension prevention. Objective: This study aims to assess the level of knowledge, attitude, and practice towards the prevention of hypertension and determine the associated factors in Tonglu County, Zhejiang, China. Methodology: This cross-sectional online survey study used convenience sampling and snowball sampling techniques, involving 439 participants aged 30-64 from Tonglu County. The validity of the questionnaire was assessed by three experts. The reliability was tested with Cronbach’s alpha, which was 0.763, and the association was analyzed by SPSS. Descriptive statistics, the chi-square test, and binary logistic regression were used to analyze the data. Results: 57.2% were female, and 38.7% were aged 45-54. 38.5% of the participants got a junior high or below education. 70.4% of respondents had not been diagnosed with any diseases by a doctor, and 57.4% did not know their recent blood pressure. 59% of the participants had poor knowledge, 55.6% of the participants had a negative attitude, 58.8% of the participants had a poor level of practice. The older age group of respondents (55-64 years old) (OR: 1.925, 95%CI: 1.058, 3.501), education respondents with junior high school or below education (OR: 3.663, 95%CI: 1.872, 7.166), and who do not know their recent blood pressure (OR: 2.078, 95%CI: 1.347, 3.207) are more likely to have poor knowledge. Respondents with junior high school or below education (OR: 2.627, 95%CI: 1.390, 4.966), farmers (OR: 2.380, 95%CI: 1.032, 5.490), and who do not know their recent blood pressure (OR: 1.816, 95%CI: 1.191, 2.767) have a significantly negative attitude. Males (OR: 2.766, 95% CI: 1.739, 4.398) and those who do not know their recent blood pressure (OR: 2.053, 95% CI: 1.339, 3.147) are significantly more likely to engage in poor practice. Conclusion: The finding revealed that most of the participants had poor knowledge, negative attitude, and poor practice towards the prevention of hypertension. The reason might be associated with sex, age, education, and occupation. In addition, healthcare professionals should focus on males, the elderly, people with lower levels of education, and people who do not regularly measure their blood pressure. Therefore, KAP-raising programs are needed to educate people about the prevention of hypertension.