‘I believe high blood pressure can kill me:’ using the PEN-3 Cultural Model to understand patients’ perceptions of an intervention to control hypertension in Ghana

Objectives: Currently in Ghana, there is an on-going task-shifting strategy in which nurses are trained in hypertension management. While this study will provide useful information on the viability of this approach, it is not clear how patients in the intervention perceive hypertension, the task-shifting strategy, and its effects on blood pressure management. The objective of this paper is to examine patients’ perceptions of hypertension and hypertension management in the context of an on-going task-shifting intervention to manage blood pressure control in Ghana.

Design: Forty-two patients participating in the Task Shifting Strategy for Hypertension program (23 males, 19 females, and mean age 61. 7 years) completed in-depth, qualitative interviews. Interviews were transcribed, and key words and phrases were extracted and coded using the PEN-3 Cultural Model as a guide through open and axial coding techniques, thus allowing rich exploration of the data.

Results: Emergent themes included patients’ perceptions of hypertension, which encompassed misperceptions of hypertension and blood pressure control. Additional themes included enablers and barriers to hypertension management, and how the intervention nurtured lifestyle change associated with blood pressure control. Primary enabling factors included the supportive nature of TASSH nurses, while notable barriers were financial constraints and difficulty accessing medication. Nurturing factors included the motivational interviewing and patient counseling which instilled confidence in the patients that they could make lasting behavior changes.

Conclusions: This study offers a unique perspective of blood pressure control by examining how patients view an on-going task-shifting initiative for hypertension management. The results of this study shed light on factors that can help and hinder individuals in low-resource settings with long-term blood pressure management.     

余尚贞以六戊年麦门冬汤治疗高血压经验浅析

高血压病为临床最常见的慢性病,余尚贞根据多年临床经验辨证,结合开、阖、枢理论,以太阴阳明升降不和为病机,从太阴阳明入手论治高血压病,结合五运六气选方六戊年麦门冬汤,临床治疗多例,疗效甚佳。开、阖、枢理论源于内经,是对人体三阴三阳经生理功能、病理特点及其相互关系的概括,我们可从中窥得开、阖、枢理论之部分面貌,比如对太阴、阳明经的了解,并拓展中医在治疗高血压病方面的治疗思路。     

重视老年高血压病人的非药物治疗

针对老年高血压病人的治疗，要积极采取药物和非药物治疗措施，既要保持血压稳定在正常或接近正常水平，又要最大限度地降低心脑血管病的并发率、病残率和死亡率。在临床工作中，除采取必要的药物控制血压外，帮助老年高血压患者安排好日常生活，树立正确地防治观念，养成按时作息和定时排便的习惯；合理的饮食，限制食盐量，戒烟戒酒，控制热量摄入；以及根据老年高血压病人的身体情况，选择有规律的适当运动，坚持循序渐进的锻炼：同时，要保持乐观开朗的心怀和积极健康的心态，生活要安排张弛有度，又多姿多彩，努力营造一个感情融洽，和睦相处的温馨美好的家庭环境。这些非药物治疗措施，都能取得了令人满意的效果，是治疗老年高血压病的最佳保健良方。     

多普勒组织成像技术在评价高血压左室舒张功能中的应用

目的 :应用多普勒组织成像 (DTI)技术检测二尖瓣环舒张期运动速度来评介原发性高血压左室舒张功能 ,探讨DTI的临床应用价值。方法 :2 0例原发性高血压和 2 0例年龄相似的健康者 ,应用DTI技术对二尖瓣环室间隔侧的运动速度进行测定 ,并与常规二尖瓣血流脉冲多普勒 (PW)检测结果对照分析。结果 :PW高血压组与对照组比较 ,峰值速度E、A及E/A明显低于对照组 ,差异显著 (P <0 0 1) ;DTI高血压组与对照组比较 ,峰值速度Ea、Aa及Ea/Aa明显低于对照组 ,差异非常显著 (P <0 0 0 1)。PW、DTI两组相同部位间比较 ,高血压组低于对照组。结论 :DTI技术评价高血压左室舒张功能比常规脉冲多普勒二尖瓣血流参数更敏感     

改善胰岛素敏感性对血压影响的相关研究

目的 :观察胰岛素增敏剂二甲双胍改善 2型糖尿病胰岛素敏感性后对血压的影响。方法 :71例 2型糖尿病人口服二甲双胍 (格华止 ) 85 0 mg,qd-bid。治疗前后测定 BMI、血压、FBG、PBG、FINS、PINS,并按 HOMA模型计算胰岛素抵抗指数和胰岛素分泌指数。结果 :( 1)二甲双胍治疗 8周后 ,BMI治疗前后无显著性差异 ;血压治疗后明显下降 ,降压幅度达 ( 13.1± 4.97) /( 4 .2 2± 9.93) mm Hg,血压治疗前后有显著性差异。 ( 2 )治疗后 F BG、 PBG、 FINS均明显下降 ,治疗前后有显著性差异。 ( 3)治疗后 HOMA-IR下降 ,IAI升高 ,治疗前后有显著性差异 ,但 HOMA-IS、 FINS/FBG无显著性差异。结论 :二甲双胍治疗 2型糖尿病 ,在降低血糖、改善 IR的同时 ,伴有血压的明显下降     

Smoking and hypertension: risk factors for carotid stenosis

Summary The prevalence of smoking, hypertension and diabetes mellitus was assessed in 221 patients suffering from internal carotid stenosis and compared with the prevalences in two sex- and age-matched control groups composed of subjects having normal Doppler findings and from non-neurological outpatients. Of the subjects with carotid stenosis 27.6% were hypertensive smokers in comparison with 9.5% and 17.2% in the two control groups. The difference of the stenosis cohort from the two control groups was significant (P<0.01 and P=0.016 respectively). There was no statistically significant differences between the occurrence of diabetes and hypertension in non-smokers and patients who smoked. In 394 investigated patients suffering from carotid stenosis or occlusion an obstruction index, based on the Doppler shift frequency, was calculated. This index was lowest in the normotentive non-smokers. It was only insignificantly higher in the hypertensive non-smokers but significantly so in the normotensive smokers. The index was highest in the hypertensive non-smokers. It was concluded that cigarette smoking, especially if associated with hypertension, is a determinant risk factor for carotid stenosis and occlusion.     

Workplace status and risk of hypertension among hourly and salaried aluminum manufacturing employees

An inverse relationship between workplace status and morbidity is well established; higher job status has been associated with reduced risks of heart disease, hypertension, and injury. Most research on job status, however, has focused on salaried populations, and it remains unclear whether job status operates similarly among hourly workers. Our objectives were to examine whether hourly status itself influences risk of hypertension after adjustment for socioeconomic confounders, and to explore the role of fine-scale job grade on hypertension incidence within hourly and salaried groups. We examined data for 14,999 aluminum manufacturing employees in 11 plants across the U.S., using logistic regression with adjustment for age, sex, race/ethnicity and other individual characteristics. Propensity score restriction was used to identify comparable groups of hourly and salaried employees, reducing confounding by sociodemographic characteristics. Job grade (coded 1 through 30, within hourly and salaried groups) was examined as a more refined measure of job status. Hourly status was associated with an increased risk of hypertension, after propensity restriction and adjustment for confounders. The observed effect of hourly status was stronger among women, although the propensity-restricted cohort was disproportionately male (96%). Among salaried workers, higher job grade was not consistently associated with decreased risk; among hourly employees, however, there was a significant trend, with higher job grades more protective against hypertension. Increasing the stringency of hypertension case criteria also increased the risk of severe or persistent hypertension for hourly employees.