Perception about home-based monitoring of blood pressure and blood sugar among urban and rural individuals

Abstract

Background: Hypertension and diabetes are the two chronic noncommunicable diseases requiring lifelong care and management. The present study was conducted to understand the perceptions of diabetic and hypertensive individuals regarding the home-based monitoring of blood pressure and blood sugar. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted from August through November 2013 at Saveetha Medical College, Chennai city, located in South India. A convenient sample of 100 individuals was enrolled in this study. Individuals having hypertension or diabetes and visiting to the Internal Medicine, outpatient department (OPD) of Saveetha Medical College were approached for the inclusion in the study. Information about sociodemographic characteristics, disease information source, knowledge, attitude, and practices, and economic aspects related to home-based monitoring of blood pressure and blood sugar. Results: The average age of the participants was 59 years (standard deviation (SD) = 11). Half of the subjects were males (52%) from urban locations (89%). More than half of them have followed some form of dietary measures (58%) to control the blood sugar level in normal limits. Majority of them have heard about home-based blood sugar monitoring device (99%) and 71% of them have heard about home-based blood pressure monitoring devices (electronic or manual). Forty-seven percent of the participants were monitoring their blood pressure, and 90% of them were monitoring their blood sugar at home. Conclusion: There is a need of further research on large scale to evaluate the knowledge, attitude, and practices related to the management of hypertension and diabetes among the individuals monitoring their blood pressure and blood sugar at home.

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Annals of Tropical Medicine and Public Health

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