Background: Hypertension is one of the major risk factors for development of cardiovascular diseases and Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs). This study was conducted to ascertain if there is a difference in knowledge regarding diagnosis, risk factors and complications of hypertension between male and female first year MBBS students. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in a private medical college in Tamil Nadu. After obtaining Institutional Ethical Committee approval and written informed consent from students, 150 first year medical students were recruited for the study. A structured, pre-tested questionnaire was administered to study subjects. Chi-square test was performed to determine statistical significance. Results: 149 respondents were included in the analyses. There were 75(50.3%) male and 74(49.6%) female respondents. While 55(73.3%) of male respondents, and 65(87.8%) of female respondents identified high salt diet as a risk factor, 20(26.7%) male and 9 (12.2%) female respondents did not. This difference was statistically significant, with a p value of 0.03. The top three sources of information regarding hypertension were friends, school and doctors, respectively. Conclusions: Significantly more male students were unaware of high salt diet as a risk factor for hypertension compared to female students. Most students obtained information about hypertension from their friends.
Impact Factor
2017: 6.614
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