Development and evaluation of a hypertension knowledge test for Korean hypertensive patients

J Clin Hypertens (Greenwich). 2011;13:750–757. ©2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Patients’ knowledge concerning high blood pressure (HBP) is a useful outcome measure in HBP education programs. However, valid and easy‐to‐use HBP knowledge assessment tools are scarce. The purpose of the study was to validate the HBP Knowledge Test (HKT) in two independent samples of Korean Americans with HBP (N=885). A total of 61% of the sample were women with a mean age of about 61 years (standard deviation=11.0) and 44% reported some college education or greater. Psychometric and item response theory analyses identified 21 items that fit a unidimensional model to form the HKT. Internal consistency was acceptable, with Cronbach’s α=0.70. Construct validity testing revealed that patients with controlled BP had significantly higher HKT scores than those with uncontrolled BP (P=.012). The HKT is a simple questionnaire for assessing and monitoring HBP knowledge. It is sensitive to differences in blood pressure control status and should provide a valid, reliable, and standardized measure of HBP knowledge with wide relevance.