Results
Ninety-eight postoperative cardiac surgical patients were informed in
detail and offered to enroll in the study. 88 patients agreed to
participate after giving consent. Out of 88 participants who completed
the study questionnaire, 41 were male, and 47 were female. The mean age
of the study subjects was 41.5 years, and most participants were from
the Western region of India (96%). The demographic profile of the
participants has been summarized in (Table 2).
The mean knowledge score of the study population was 21.49±7.42, the
mean attitude score was 4.08±1.84, and the mean practice score was
4.60±0.74. In the subgroup analysis, the difference in the knowledge
score was statistically significant (p<0.05) in different age
groups, with the mean knowledge score being higher in the age groups of
18-29 years (23.65±6.85), 30-39 years (24.27±8.22) and 40-49 years
(22.47±7.50) (Table 3). However, the attitude and practice scores were
comparable for all the age groups. There was no difference in KAP scores
concerning the gender of the participants (Table 4).
When compared to the place of residence, KAP scores were significantly
higher for the participants residing in urban areas than those from
rural areas. The mean knowledge score, attitude score, and practice
score for the urban residents were 26.86±6.9, 5.11±1.95, and 4.94±0.86,
respectively, and those for the rural areas were 17.77±5.18
(p<0.001), 3.37±1.37 (p<0.001) and 4.37±0.53
(p<0.001) (Table 5).
The KAP scores also showed a statistically significant relationship with
the education status of the population (p<0.001). The
knowledge score of the participants with graduation and above was
32.50±2.31, whereas the illiterate subgroup scored 13.72±3.15. Similar
results were seen concerning the attitude and practice scores, with the
mean values showing a gradual rise with the education status of the
population from illiterate to graduation and above (Table 6). All these
results were found to be statistically significant. The percentage score
was computed in each subgroup of the education status category
(knowledge, attitude, and practice). It also showed similar results,
with all scores being higher in the participants who have at least
graduated (Table 7).