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Cardiovascular journal of South Africa : official journal for Southern Africa Cardiac Society [and] South African Society of Cardiac Practitioners, 2003-07, Vol.14 (4), p.195
Ability of Nigerian hypertensive patients to perceive changes in their blood pressure
Ist Teil von
Cardiovascular journal of South Africa : official journal for Southern Africa Cardiac Society [and] South African Society of Cardiac Practitioners, 2003-07, Vol.14 (4), p.195
Ort / Verlag
South Africa
Erscheinungsjahr
2003
Link zum Volltext
Quelle
MEDLINE
Beschreibungen/Notizen
The objective of this study was to examine the ability of hypertensive patients to predict correctly when their blood pressure (BP) was elevated, and the symptoms they felt when such changes occurred. We also sought to determine whether literacy levels or the number of years that a patient had been diagnosed as hypertensive had a correlation with whether a patient was a predictor and whether he was an accurate predictor. One hundred and seventy-seven patients were studies, of which 101 (57.1%) claimed they could tell when their BP was elevated. Only 45 (44.5%) of the predictors were right in their prediction. Although being literate and longer time of being hypertensive was found to be likely to make a patient a predictor, neither of these variables was likely to make a predictor accurate. Predictors were also likely to be younger than non-predictors. The symptoms the patients were likely to complain about as denoting a rise in BP included headache (20.4%), weakness/tiredness (20.4%) and palpitation (18.5%). The study has shown that the majority of predictors were not accurate and so hypertensive patients should be counseled not to depend on how they feel but to visit physicians regularly for BP checks.