Screening for Hypertension. Assessing the knowledge, attitudes and practice of primary health care physicians in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to assess the performance of primary health care physicians in screening people for hypertension in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, by assessing their knowledge, attitudes and practice.

METHODS: A cross-sectional descriptive study including 20 primary health care centers were selected randomly in Riyadh city during September 1996. The participation of 107 primary health care working doctors in these centers were invited to complete a 38 item questionnaire which contained essential knowledge regarding hypertension, screening for hypertension, their attitudes and practice in screening for hypertension.

RESULTS: One 3rd of the doctors knew the correct definition of hypertension. Prevalence of hypertension in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was well known by 42% of doctors, only 57% doctors knew the major complication of hypertension. Most (91%) thought that screening of people for hypertension was worthwhile. The majority of doctors (94%) recorded blood pressure at the time of opening the Family Health Records file, but only 56% of doctors would actually screen patients above 35 years of age every 3-5 years.

CONCLUSION: Current working primary health care physicians having poor knowledge of screening hypertension and favorable attitudes towards screening people for hypertension. Thus most probably, this actual practice is not yet optimal. Measures to remedy this situation were suggested.