Self-care practices and associated factors among hypertensive patients attending at public hospital in Hawassa city, Sidama region, Ethiopia, 2023: Facility-based cross-sectional study

Abstract

Abstract Background Self-care is crucial for controlling blood pressure in hypertensive patients. Globally, uncontrolled blood pressure resulted in 17.3 million fatalities and 9.4 million complications. Thereby, the purpose of this study was to assess the level of self-care behaviors and associated factors among hypertension patients in the public hospitals of Hawassa City. Methods and materials: From March 18, 2023 to June 18, 2023, a facility-based cross-sectional study was carried out at public hospitals in Hawassa. A systematic random sampling technique was used to select the study participants from each hospital. The six domains of Hypertension Self-Care Activity Level Effects (H-SCALE) measure how well people manage their hypertension. To evaluate the correlation between the dependent and independent variables, a binary logistic regression model was used. The results of the final model are presented as adjusted odds ratios (AORs) with 95% confidence intervals. These variables were regarded as independent predictors of poor self-care among patients with hypertension when their 95% confidence intervals did not include one in the final model. Adjusted odds ratios (AORs) with 95% confidence intervals are reported. Result Male participants were 56% less likely to practice poor self-care practices for hypertension compared to female participants. Those participant’s age group between 60–99 had 4.11 times higher odds of poor self-care practice compared to the participants of age group of 18–39, less than five years since being diagnosed with hypertension were 3.14 times more likely to practice poor self-care compared > five years, Patients who have comorbidity, Patients who chewed khat, and those who were not employed had 1.90 times higher odds of poor self-care practice than employed participants Conclusion and recommendation: Poor self-care was reported by 46.9% of respondents who were hypertension patients. We identified significant factors, such as sex, age, occupation, chewing khat, age 5 years from diagnosis, and comorbidities, associated with poor self-care practices among hypertension patients. The identified causes of the participants' poor self-care practices in the study settings should be addressed by policymakers, the regional bureau, healthcare professionals, and researchers, according to our recommendation.