Investigating Information Resources Used in Hypertensive Patients: A Cross-Sectional Study on Self-Management of Disease

Abstract

Introduction: Health information seeking and knowledge acquisition play an important role in the management of chronic diseases such as hypertension. The purpose of this study was to determine the information sources used by hypertensive patients in self-management of patients referred to Jahrom... health centers.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on 396 hypertensive patients who were selected by cluster sampling from six urban-rural health centers of Jahrom City in 2016. Data gathering tool was a 17-question researcher-made questionnaire that was used after validation and reliability. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and chi-square test by SPSS version 16 software.

Results: 61.40% (243 patients) of patients with hypertension had information about their disease after developing hypertention. Most of their information sources were physicians and health workers 60.02% (236 people), family and friends 31.12% (122 people) and other patients 25.8% (101 people) and mass media 24.51% respectively. 96 people). 35.4% (n = 86) of patients admitted that this acquisition of knowledge has decreased their referrals to specialized levels  The most important reasons for not obtaining information in 35.29% (140 people) were difficulty and lack of access to information resources.

Conclusion: The results of this study showed a relatively high and good knowledge of the patients after the disease. The most frequently used sources of information were physicians and health workers. Therefore, it is imperative that health professionals use effective ways of transmitting information to these people.