Objectives To investigate the acknowledgement status of general practitioner in Xinjiang on primary knowledge of prevention and treatment of hypertension and provide a reference for further training.

Methods Closed book written survey on hypertension knowledge was assessed in 782 general practitioners from different levels of hospitals in the seven major regions of Xinjiang, including Hetian, Kurle, Ili and etc.

Results 1. The rate of correct answer to target organ damages, risk factors of hypertension and aim of blood pressure control in different subgroups was significantly lower in practitioners from South Xinjiang than that from North Xinjiang (p<0.001), except for the diagnostic criteria of hypertension;

2. The correct answer rates to the heart, kidney, vascular damage caused by hypertension, risk factors of hypertension (lack of physical exercises) were found in practitioners from Hetian were significantly lower than in other regions (p<0.05). Only 50.8% of general practitioners in Kurle correctly answer the aim of blood pressure in elderly population.

3. The acknowledge status were the best in practitioners from third-grade hospital, only 70.4% practitioners from second-grade hospital knew the final aim of blood pressure control in elderly hypertensive patients.

4. More male practitioners than female practitioners gave the correct answers to vascular damage (93.2% vs 85.4%, p=0.001), excessive alcohol intake (92.9% vs 86.7%, p=0.006) and the final aim of blood pressure control in hypertensive patients combined with diabetes or renal damages (93.5% vs 87.7%,p=0.008).

5. The attending physicians had the lowest rate on the items of ‘aim of blood pressure control in different sub-populations’ (p=0.019).

Conclusions Training on prevention and treatment of hypertension in general practitioner must focus on south Xinjiang, first- and second-grade hospitals, and women practitioners, strengthening to know the hypertension knowledge comprehensively and correctly.