Knowledge on the causes and consequences of untreated arterial hypertension in randomly selected students from polish cities

Abstract

Background Arterial hypertension (AH) constitutes a well-known risk factor for cardiovascular diseases (CVD). The aim of the study was to evaluate the extent of knowledge on the causes and complications of arterial hypertension in randomly selected students from Polish cities: Kielce, Wroclaw and Zielona Gora.

Material and methods The study was caried out in a group of 232 students (23.14 ± 1.23 years), among them students from Kielce constituted 37.5% of participants (subgroup I, n = 87), students from Wroclaw 29.7% (subgroup II, n = 69), and students from Zielona Gora 32.8% (subgroup III, n = 76). Among the examined was carried out questionnaire survey on knowledge of the causes of arterial hypertension and its complications.

Results Among causes of arterial hypertension the most commonly selected answer was overweight and obesity (93.97% of the answers), drinking coffee (75.43%) and stress (72.41%). The incorrect answer chosen most often was drinking high amounts of coffee (75.43%). On the other hand, the most commonly missed important factor predisposing to the development of arterial hypertension was the incidence of kidney diseases (only 28.02% answers suggested the possible relation). Students have chosen myocardial infarction (89.22%), coronary artery disease (70.26%) and stroke (67.24%) as the common complications of arterial hypertension. The majority of respondents (76.29% ) did not indicate chronic renal failure as the possible consequence of arterial hypertension.

Conclusions Knowledge on the causes of arterial hypertension and its complications among students from randomly selected big Polish cities: Kielce, Wroclaw and Zielona Gora is not sufficient and corresponds with the lack of the knowledge on CVD in general population.