Knowledge and Practices of Blood Pressure Measurement among Final Year Students, House Officers, and Resident Dental Surgeons in a Dental Hospital, South West Nigeria

Abstract

Objectives: To assess the knowledge and practices of blood pressure measurement (BPM) among final year students, house officers, and resident dental surgeons. Materials and Methods: A cross‑sectional study consisting of a convenience sample of all final year students, house officers, and resident dental surgeons in a dental hospital in South West Nigeria was conducted. All participants were requested to complete a 16‑item questionnaire about their knowledge of accurate BPM. After completing the questionnaire, the participants were observed by a single research associate as they measured the blood pressure (BP) of patients using a checklist prepared according to the World Health Organization and the American Heart Association (AHA) guidelines for measuring BP. The performance score was based on a 25‑element skillset on BP measurement. Data were entered into Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 22. Frequencies and means were generated and independent Student’s t‑tests and Pearson’s Chi‑square tests were used to test the association between continuous and categorical variables, respectively at P value < 0.05. Results: In total, 139 questionnaires were returned by 59 final year dental nursing students, 29 final year dental students, 14 house officers, 18 registrars, and 19 senior registrars. Overall, 46.0% of the participants had poor knowledge of accurate BPM. The mean [standard deviation (SD)] BPM knowledge score was 5.8 (2.0), dental nursing students had the least 4.8 (1.5) score, and dental students had the highest 6.9 (2.0) score (P < 0.0001). Overall, the mean (SD) BPM knowledge scores for students and dentists were 5.5 (1.9) and 6.4 (1.9), respectively (P = 0.01). One‑hundred and thirty‑seven (98.6%) participants performed BPM inaccurately. There was a weak positive non‑statistically significant correlation between knowledge and performance scores (r = 0.03; P = 0.75). Conclusions: Overall, 46.0% of participants had poor knowledge of accurate BPM while 98.6% performed BPM inadequately. These findings suggest the need for curriculum review on accurate BPM.