Abstract:
Adverse cardiovascular disease (CVD) outcomes among hypertensives are
determined by several key patient factors such as knowledge, self-risk perception of CVD
outcomes, and patients’ risk reduction behaviors. Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause
of death and disabilities worldwide. Uncontrolled hypertension is a major and well-established
risk factor for adverse CVD outcomes resulting in high morbidity and mortality. These outcomes
could largely be prevented if the patients possess good working knowledge, accurate risk-
perception, and consistently engage in risk reduction behaviors. However, despite the widely
prevalent behavioral risks for adverse CVD outcomes among hypertensives in Ethiopia, the
patients’ risk reduction behavioral status, knowledge, and risk-perception are largely unknown.
Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine CVD risk reduction behaviors and their
determinants among adult hypertensives.
Objective: The general objective of the study was to determine the status of CVD risk reduction
behaviors and its associations with sociodemographic and clinical profiles, knowledge, and risk
perception of adult hypertensives attending follow-up at a tertiary hospital in Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia.