Treatment choices of hypertensive patients in Turkey

Hypertension is a serious and common health problem experienced by people from all parts of the world. The authors' aim was to assess hypertensive patients' baseline health behaviors, health status, knowledge about their disease, lifestyles, behaviorial modifications, sources of information about their disease, and management of hypertension. The authors administered to 72 hypertensive patients a questionnaire that asked about lifestyles, management of hypertensive attacks, and use of alternative treatments. The patients' mean Body Mass Index was 27 +/- 4.0 kg/m(2), and although a change of diet had been advised to most patients, compliance was low (34.2%). Only 23.6% of the patients were first diagnosed in primary care facilities. The most common traditional self-treatments for hypertensive attacks were eating yogurt with garlic (27.8%) and eating sour foods (25%). A considerable proportion of patients acquired their knowledge about hypertension from the media. By using media, patient education and behavioral modification can be helpful in the treatment and control of hypertension.