Hypertension-Related Healthy Information Seeking Behavior of Hypertensive Individuals Living in Rural Areas – Cross-Sectional Survey Shah Archana Amit1,*, Kumar Naresh2, Sharma Navneet3, Singhla Ashish4 1Associate Professor Department of Microbiology, Divya Jyoti Institute of Medical Sciences & Research, Niwari Road, Modinagar, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India 2Associate Professor Department of Medicine, Divya Jyoti Institute of Medical Sciences & Research, Niwari Road, Modinagar, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India 3Professor & Head, Department of Biochemistry, Divya Jyoti Institute of Medical Sciences & Research, Niwari Road, Modinagar, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India 4Reader, Department of Public Health Dentistry, Divya Jyoti College of Dental Sciences & Research, Niwari Road, Modinagar, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India *Address for correspondence: Archana Amit Shah, Email id: drashishsingla@gmail.com
Online published on 30 April, 2015. Abstract Introduction Hypertension is one of the major contributors towards global mortality and associated morbidity. This study was conducted to explore the hypertension-related healthy information seeking behavior of hypertensive individuals living in rural areas. Methods Hundred participants age more than 18 years were included in the study from the Internal Medicine Outpatient Department of private Medical College of India. Variable information gathered included socio-demographics, technology access, health literacy, and the educational modules that might be necessary to design relevant hypertension-related health educational program. Results Eighty six percent of the participants encountered problems in understanding about their medical conditions due to difficulties in understanding written information. None of the participants have ever seen or knew about any complication related to hypertension which may have prompted them to seek further information and all of them reported no change in pattern of seeking information related to hypertension. Conclusion There is a need of future research for exploring interventions which can fulfill the existing gap of hypertension-related knowledge delivery between hypertensive patient and care provider. Top Keywords Hypertension, Information seeking behavior, Rural areas, Technology access, Health literacy, Rural, India. Top |