268111 Association between hypertension management education program attendance and use of non-drug therapy, and education level in Korean population

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Jee Won Park , Department of Epidemiology, Graduate School of Public Health, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea
Jihye Kim , Graduate School of Public Health, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea
KO Woon Lee , Graduate School of Public Health, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea
Youngsun Ro, MD , Graduate School of Public Health, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea
Objective: Socioeconomic status is a recognized determinant of cardiovascular health. This study examines the association between education as socioeconomic factor and hypertension management education attendance and use of non-drug therapy in Korean population. Method: Community Health Survey (CHS) is a nationwide, community-based surveillance system supported by Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) that is conducted annually. Subjects recruited from the 2009 CHS completed a paper-based questionnaire as a face-to face interview survey by investigators who were trained by a centralized training program. Confounding factors such as age, gender and other socioeconomic factors were adjusted for in the analyses. Results: Of 45,574 hypertensive subjects, (male=19,398, female=26,176), 18,940 subjects (8.2%) attended hypertension education programs. Subjects who attended education programs constituted high portion of lower monthly household income (86.8%), non-smokers (65.3%), less obese (67.4%), lower educational level attained (69.0%), and married (71.4%). From 18,940 subjects who attended education programs, lower income (84.6%), non-smokers (64.2%), less obese (63.7%), lower education level attained (58.8%), and married (77.38%) were more frequently using non-drug therapies. When monthly household income, smoking status, obesity and marriage status were adjusted, high school education level was slightly associated with attending education programs: odds ratio (OR) (95% confidence interval [CI]); 0.91 [0.87-0.96], but college-level education was not statistically significant. Both high school and college education levels were associated with non-drug therapy: 1.55 [1.41-1.70] and 1.83 [1.63-2.06], respectively. Conclusion: Education attainment level was not or minimally associated with attending hypertension management education programs, but was significantly associated with use of non-drug therapy.

Learning Areas:
Administer health education strategies, interventions and programs
Program planning
Public health or related education

Learning Objectives:
Assess whether education level influences attendance at hypertension management programs and the use of non-drug therapy.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am a Master of Public Health student at Seoul National University, Korea, who participated in the survey in which the data for this abstract's sample was collected. All authors are not related with any other conflicts of interest in this study.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 2075.0: Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology Poster Session