Hypertension Education, Provider, and Cardio-Cerebrovascular Symptom Awareness: 2024 Korea Community Health Survey

Hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and cerebrovascular disease are significant public health challenges worldwide. In South Korea, heart disease and cerebrovascular disease are among the leading causes of death, and hypertension prevalence remains substantial. While hypertension management education has been associated with improved disease knowledge and self-care behaviours, studies on the association educational effectiveness and provider type at the population level are limited.

To examine the association between hypertension management education experience, education provider type, and knowledge of early cardio-cerebrovascular disease symptoms among adults with hypertension using nationally representative data.

This cross-sectional secondary data analysis used the 2024 Korea Community Health Survey. The analytic sample comprised 71,859 adults aged 19 years or older with physician-diagnosed hypertension. Knowledge of early cardio-cerebrovascular symptoms was measured using a validated 10-item score. Multiple linear regression analyses were conducted to assess the association between education experience, education provider type, and knowledge scores, adjusting for sociodemographic, health status, and health behaviour covariates. Interaction and stratified analyses examined potential effect modification by sex, age, education level, and income.

Among the participants, 18.3% had received hypertension management education in the past year. After full covariate adjustment, the education group had significantly higher knowledge scores than the non-education group (β = 0.273, 95% CI 0.197-0.349). Education at public health centres or other community-based providers was associated with the largest score difference (β = 0.366, 95% CI 0.188-0.545), followed by clinics/hospitals (β = 0.259, 95% CI 0.176-0.342). Interaction analyses indicated that the magnitude of the association was significantly greater among women, older adults, those with lower education, and those with lower income.

Hypertension management education was positively associated with higher knowledge of early cardio-cerebrovascular warning symptoms, with a particularly greater association among socioeconomically disadvantaged populations. These findings support the potential value of expanding structured education through both primary care and community-based public health programmes.