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).