| ABSTRACT
Objectves: Hypertension is a growing public health concern worldwide, increasingly affectng
young adults due to sedentary lifestyles, poor dietary habits, and low health awareness.
Despite its preventability, limited research has examined knowledge, attude, and practce
(KAP) toward hypertension among Afghan university students.
Methods: A descriptve cross-sectonal study was conducted among 400 undergraduate
students from fve facultes at Jami University, Herat, Afghanistan, between March and May
2025. Partcipants were selected using stratfed random sampling. Data were collected using
a structured, self-administered questonnaire covering sociodemographic characteristcs and
KAP toward hypertension. Descriptve statstcs summarized partcipant responses, while Chi
square tests assessed associatons between KAP levels and demographic variables, using a
signifcance level of p < 0.05.
Results: Most respondents (64.3%) were aged 21–24 years and resided in urban areas. While
the majority correctly identfed hypertension as high blood pressure (99.3%) and understood
its asymptomatc nature (98.0%), misconceptons were prevalent—only 5.5% recognized its
impact on vital organs. Nearly all students (91.0%) believed that long-term medicaton use is
harmful, and half (47.5%) had never checked their blood pressure. Knowledge was signifcantly
associated with employment status (p = 0.003), and practce was associated with academic
year (p = 0.019).
Conclusion: Despite moderate knowledge and generally positve attudes, preventve
practces among students were poor. Targeted educatonal interventons, campus-wide health
promoton actvites, and periodic screening programs are essental to improve hypertension
awareness and foster healthier lifestyles among Afghan university students.
Keywords: Hypertension; Knowledge, Attude, Practce (KAP); University Students; Young Adults;
Afghanistan; Non-Communicable Diseases |
