Introduction

Hypertension has been a leading health problem while it is also ranked as one of the most significant health issues in this 21^st century. The disease is common worldwide, easily treatable and readily detectable. However, it has led to lethal complications, and it is usually asymptomatic if it is not treated. It is among the leading contributors to premature deaths in both developed and undeveloped countries as by the Global Burden of Disease study(Rao et al., 2013). For instance, India is a socially and culturally diverse nation, but region-wise hypertension prevalence has been noted in the country. Due to this, a study was carried to assess the prevalence of hypertension in the coastal area in India called Karnataka. The following discussion will involve quantitative analysis of high blood pressure prevalence as well as the significant correlates.

Background of Study

Hypertension is one of the common problem of interest in nursing and in society at large. The issue has contributed to several deaths globally, and yet it is managed poorly. Hypertension is a leading risk factor for cardiovascular illness. It is one of the problems that are recognized if it is treated and sought effectively (Rao et al., 2013). There is a possibility of effective management of high blood pressure if and only if the problem can be identified earlier. One of the effective methods of addressing hypertension is to establish appropriate control measures that will help in reducing the rising number of deaths throughout the world. Some of these approaches include; lifestyle changes and regular screening.

The principal risk factor for cardiovascular disease is hypertension. There is a possibility of effective management of high blood pressure when hypertension is identified. According to the study, it is evident that the effective methods towards prevention of hypertension were not known. These are some of the essential aspects that everyone in society should know so that the problem can be identified earlier(Rao et al., 2013). If all people can understand about hypertension correlates such as advancing age, male gender, family history, central obesity, current diabetic status among many other correlates, it will be easy for everyone to identify the problem or even change their lifestyle. For instance, advancing age is one of the correlates that should be known to everyone so that they can have regular high blood checks before the onset of hypertension. These actions will help in improving the patients’ outcomes as well as health care delivery (Rao et al., 2013).

The significance of this study was established by executing a survey involving 1239 respondents who were equal to and above30 years to determine sociodemographic correlation and prevalence of hypertension in adults aged above 30 years(Rao et al., 2013). Information was gathered through interviews and blood pressure measurements. The study aimed to find out the prevalence of high blood pressure as well as its significant correlates.This information is essential to every person since we have various correlates. Prevention of hypertension, as well as the early intervention of the problem, can be affected if all these correlates are understood to everyone. Some of the research questions that this study was designed to answer are;

• What is the high blood pressure prevalence in men and women?
• What are the significant correlates of hypertension?

Both of the questions are related to hypertension in a way that they seek to answer the gender-related prevalence as well as the kind of significant correlates of the problem. Both the purpose and the questions tend to help in coming up with an effective way of management of the problem in both men and women.

Method of Study

The survey involved quantitative methods that were used to answer the research questions. One of the plans was sampling. There was institutional ethical clearance before the commencement of the study. Sampling was an appropriate method because the population involved different people including women and men above 30 years. Samples of blood were taken from all these groups to help in coming up with significant hypertension correlates. The author used various references to study the findings of sampling. The second method was the use of personal interviews to determine risk factors and sociodemographic variables of hypertension. Data was collected through this method by the use of questionnaires that included socioeconomic status, physical activity status and hypertension family history (Rao, Kamath, Shetty, & Kamath, 2013).

The blood pressures and anthropometric measurements were recorded. The measures included weight, height, BMI, waist circumference and hip circumference. This method was sufficient to this study since it could help in achieving the aim of the study as well as answering the question about the significant hypertension correlates(Rao et al., 2013). After the collection of data, the author used other quantitative references like journals and study reports that were relevant to the study. Statistical analysis was another method that the author outlined. It involved the presentation of risk factors and the prevalence of hypertension in percentages. The investigation was carried out with the utilization of SPSS. The portions were used to compared prevalence in individuals without or with the risk factors. Odd ratios, as well as chi-square test, were used in analyzing the differences.

Both older and current references were used to come up with adequate information about the study. However, the older references outnumbered the current references because they were relevant to quantitative research (Rao et al., 2013). Other recommendations included WHO reports, health journals about hypertension such as the British Medical Journal, Journal of the American Medical Association, National medical journal of India among many other references. Weaknesses of the available studies were not indicated. There were graphs and tables which were used to represent the percentage prevalence in men and women and the significant correlates (Rao et al., 2013).

Results of the Study

The study involved 805 females are 434 males. There was the presence of a family history of hypertension in 41% of the interviewed individuals. About 21.4% of the people were overweight while 6.6% of the people were obese(Rao et al., 2013). More than half of the population had truncal and abdominal obesity while 16% of the population was diabetic(Rao et al., 2013). It was noted that men have a higher hypertension prevalence compared to the females and according to the statistics, this was very significant since men had a prevalence of 51.6% while the females had 38.9%. There was a higher hypertension prevalence in both stage 1 and stage 2 among the older population while the most younger age groups were in the prehypertension and norm tension category. There was a constitution of 38.7% of prehypertension individuals meaning that these populations needed more screening (Rao et al., 2013).

Some of the significant hypertension correlates were male gender, advancing age, obesity, overweight and current diabetic status. All these results can be of help in nursing in a way that there can be early intervention conducted to help in the management of the problem. The findings show that screening is essential and should be done for every patient to prevent the problem. This study can impact practice and education in nursing since the burses require more skills and knowledge to ensure that hypertension is effectively managed (Rao et al., 2013).

Ethical Considerations

Analysis of the study was approved by the Department of Community Medicine which is found in the coastal Karnataka, India. Institution ethical clearance was acquired even before the study was executed. The above means that the privacy of the patients and all individuals who took part in this study were protected(Rao et al., 2013). The author does not explain the ethical considerations concerning the treatment of hypertension. However, one of the ethical concerns in studying the population was to exclude lactating and pregnant women because of blood pressure variations.

Conclusion

A good number of people were under the prehypertension category. The above means that the need for initiation of screening methods was significant at an earlier age. The study also stresses on the promotion of opportunistic screening for the disease during daily health care visits. The findings or the results of this survey can help in the nursing field in increasing the patient outcomes through implementation of early interventions and primary prevention strategies.

References

Rao, C. R., Kamath, V. G., Shetty, A., & Kamath, A. (2013). High blood pressure prevalence and significant correlates: A quantitative analysis from Coastal Karnataka, India. ISRN Preventive Medicine, doi:10.5402/2013/574973

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