Journal of Public Health and Epidemiology Vol. 3(5), pp. 204-209, May 2011 Available online at http://www.academicjournals.org/jphe ISSN 2141-2316 ©2011 Academic Journals Full Length Research Paper Knowledge of hypertension among the staff of University of Ibadan, Nigeria Ali Arazeem Abdullahi 1 and Jimoh Amzat 2 1 Department of Sociology, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria. 2 Department of Sociology, Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, Sokoto State, Nigeria. Accepted 26 March, 2011 Several lines of evidence have suggested that hypertension and its related complications are major health problems not only in Nigeria but the entire world. Thus, this study examined the awareness about the risk factors and complications associated with hypertension at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. Questionnaire instrument was used to collect data from a randomly selected 556 subjects selected across faculties, departments and sectional units of the University. The descriptive statistics showed that some members of staff demonstrated a relatively high level of knowledge about the complications associated with hypertension but knowledge about the risk factors and attitude towards the illness was still low. However, level of education significantly influences awareness of complications (at 0.05) and knowledge of risk factors (at 0.05). On-job screening and educative programmes are fundamental ways to improve knowledge about hypertension at the work-place. Key words: Awareness, knowledge, hypertension, high blood pressure, risk factors, complications. INTRODUCTION In medical terms, hypertension is a blood pressure of 140/90 mmHg (millimetres of mercury) or more, based on at least two readings on separate occasions (Mlunde, 2007). The term is used to mean the same medical condition with high blood pressure (HBP) (Egan et al., 2003). Distinction is often drawn between primary or essential and secondary hypertension (Mlunde, 2007; Jimoh, 1992). The primary hypertension is the most com- mon type and over 90% of hypertension cases fall within this category (Goodfriend, 1983; Mlunde, 2007). While primary hypertension is deep-rooted in genetic, socio- economic and environmental factors, secondary hypertension may be due to renal, endocrine and cardio- vascular causes (Mlunde, 2007). Although hypertension is asymptomatic, it is usually attributed to severe health problems such as congestive heart failure, cardiovascular disease, renal failure, stroke, cognitive decline, dementia and even death (Hansson et al., 2000). A significant number of studies have also established *Corresponding author. E-mail: kwaraeleven@yahoo.com. Tel: +2348069696844, +27761274988 clear evidence for a relationship between occupational stressors and elevation of blood pressure (Theorell et al., 1991; Schnall et al., 1992; Theorell et al., 1993; Melamed et al., 1998). Increased risks of high blood pressure are connected with chronic job strain (Landsbergis et al., 2003; Markovitz et al., 2004). There are strong evidences to suggest that hyper- tension and its associated complications are major health challenges of the 21 st century. As of year 2000, more than 900 million people were living with hypertension worldwide (Kearney et al., 2005). It has been predicted that this number could jump to more than 1.5 billion in 2025 if drastic measures are not taken to control hypertension (Kearney et al., 2005). Developing countries experiencing epidemiological transition from communicable to non-communicable chronic diseases often bear the brunt of hypertension (Dodu, 1988; WHO, 1993; Aubert et al., 1998; Nissinen et al., 1998; Reddy, 1993; Kusuma, 2009a). In Sub-Saharan Africa, hypertension affects over 20 million people and remains a leading cause of hospitali- sation and mortality (World Hypertension League, 2003). In Nigeria, hypertension is one of the most common non- communicable diseases (Akinkugbe, 1992) with more