Knowledge, attitudes and practices on risk factors of non-communicable diseases (NCDs): a cross-sectional survey among urban and rural adults in Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) represent the foremost cause of mortality worldwide, including Malaysia. In this study, we aim to gauge the level of knowledge, attitudes, and practices on NCDs using a validated questionnaire. A descriptive cross-sectional study conducted among the general adult population in selected areas of Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia conducted from October 2017 to February 2018. Of the 486 respondents, 57.4% (279) were from rural communities. The mean age of the respondents was 53.68 (SD:19.69). For both urban and rural respondents, more than half of the respondents showed good knowledge (78.7% vs 69.9%), good attitude (53.1% vs 93.2%), and moderate practice (63.8% vs 54.8%). In bivariate analysis, rural respondents have a significantly higher total attitude [66.01 (SD = 5.049) vs 57.18 (SD = 4.825), p < 0.001] and practice [7.65 (SD = 1.891) vs 7.24 (SD = 1.624), p = 0.013] scores than urban respondents with no significant difference in total knowledge scores. However, rural respondents had lower scores regarding general knowledge on NCDs [5.71 (SD = 2.288) vs 6.35 (SD = 1.587), p = 0.001] and diabetes mellitus diseases [2.91 (1.134) vs 3.24 (0.954), p = 0.001] compared to urban communities. This study identified that even with adequate knowledge, the attitude and practices towards NCDs were unsatisfactory, particularly among urban respondents. Considering the future burden of NCDs management and complication, efforts are needed to assess the factors that decrease the attitude and lifestyle practices in the prevention of NCDs, particularly among the urban community.