Publication: The association between knowledge, attitude, practice (KAP) on sodium and diet quality among hypertensive patients in Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (HPUSM)
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Date
2026-06
Authors
Azmi, Farah Nabila
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Abstract
One in three adults in Malaysia suffers from hypertension. Knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) on sodium play a crucial role in determining diet quality, which in turn helps manage patients' blood pressure. Therefore, this cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the relationship between Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice (KAP) towards sodium intake and dietary quality among hypertensive patients at HPUSM. A total of 180 participants with median age 64 years (63.9% age more than 60). Majority were female (57.2%), Malay (42.8%), earning below RM2000 (58.4%), and unemployed (52.8%). The results showed that the majority of participants had poor knowledge (47.8%), positive attitude (53.3%), inadequate practice (88.9%). Meanwhile diet quality were moderate (70%) and requires improvement, as no participants achieved a good level of diet quality.There was a moderate significant correlation (r = 0.335, p < 0.001) between the knowledge and attitude domains, a weak significant correlation between knowledge and practice (r = 0.169, p = 0.012), and a moderate significant correlation between attitude and practice (r = 0.395, p < 0.001). However, no significant correlation was found between the sodium KAP domains and overall diet quality or sodium intake (p > 0.05). Nonetheless, the median diet quality score among participants with good knowledge was significantly higher (56.100, IQR 31.3) compared to those in the moderate knowledge group (51.350, IQR 55.3) (p = 0.025). In conclusion, although the majority of participants exhibited a positive attitude, their level of knowledge and practice regarding sodium remains poor, thereby influencing their diet quality. Therefore, intervention programs focusing on enhancing knowledge and practice are essential to translate patients' positive attitudes into better diet quality.
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