Impact of the virtual anti-hypertensive educational campaign towards knowledge, attitude, and practice of hypertension management during the COVID-19 pandemic

Table 4 Results of the attitude section evaluated with principal components of the items of the questionnaire to measure adherence in patients with primary hypertension

No.	Likert item	Average Likert scale		P value
		Before intervention, n = 110	After intervention, n = 109
1	Have you taken the medications according to the frequency indicated in the formula provided by the physician?	38 (34.5)	61 (55.9)	< 0.001
2	Have you taken the medications according to the dosage indicated by the physician?	82 (74.5)	87 (79.8)	0.035
3	Have you taken the medications according to the schedule indicated by the physician?	45 (40.9)	64 (58.7)	< 0.001
4	Have you taken the medications for a long period without interruptions, according to indications provided by the physician?	32 (29.1)	35 (32.1)	0.032
5	Have you taken the medications according to indications by the physician, without increasing or diminishing the dosage?	82 (74.5)	87 (79.8)	0.035
6	Have you continued taking the medications even if you don’t have symptoms of hypertension?	38 (34.5)	61 (55.9)	< 0.001
7	Have you forgotten to take your medications?	72 (65.5)	49 (44.9)	< 0.001
8	Have you suspended the medications when you have felt that symptoms have improved?	73 (66.4)	59 (54.1)	< 0.001
9	Have kept using the medications in spite of feeling that the symptoms have worsened?	37 (33.6)	60 (55.0)	< 0.001
10	Have you complied with a low-salt diet?	32 (29.1)	81 (74.3)	< 0.001
11	Have you complied with a low-fat diet? Reducing consumption of fried preparations, sauces, dressings, sausages (cold cuts - Mortadella - fast foods in general)	28 (25.5)	67 (61.5)	< 0.001
12	Have you complied with a low-cholesterol diet? Reducing consumption of red meats, chicken skin, eggs, sauces (mayonnaise - tomato sauce - industrial vinaigrettes), oil, lard and butter)	45 (40.9)	71 (65.1)	< 0.001
13	Have you diminished consumption of sugar and sweets?	18 (16.4)	31 (28.4)	< 0.001
14	Have you increased consumption of fiber? Such as papaya, pineapple, soursop, peaches, pears, and apples; also cereals, like oats, quinoa and bran	29 (26.4)	47 (43.1)	< 0.001
15	Have you increased consumption of fresh vegetables?	71 (64.5)	89 (81.6)	0.006
16	Have you increased consumption of fresh fruits?	36 (32.7)	70 (64.2)	< 0.001
17	Have you increased consumption of grains? Including beans, chickpeas, lentils, peas. Besides dry nuts, like peanuts and almonds?	28 (25.5)	47 (43.1)	< 0.001
18	Have you increased consumption of low-fat dairy products?	28 (25.5)	67 (61.5)	< 0.001
19	Have you diminished the consumption of coffee?	63 (57.3)	70 (64.2)	0.028
20	Have you limited consumption of alcoholic beverages?	106 (96.4)	107 (98.2)	0.440
21	Have you stopped smoking?	13 (11.8)	28 (25.7)	< 0.001
22	Have you performed physical exercise at least five times per week?	17 (15.5)	32 (29.4)	< 0.001
23	When performing physical exercise, have you dedicated at least 30 min to it?	12 (10.9)	25 (22.9)	< 0.001
24	Have you been able to control the amount of food you consume?	63 (57.3)	68 (62.4)	0.032
25	Have you maintained your body weight under control?	59 (53.6)	61 (55.9)	0.280
26	Have you set aside daily time for relaxation for yourself?	14 (12.7)	26 (23.8)	< 0.001
27	Have you recurred to some forms to relieve stress or tension?	17 (15.5)	18 (16.5)	0.240
28	Have you controlled yourself emotionally in light of sudden events?	51 (46.4)	59 (54.1)	0.012

Data are presented as n (%).