Temu Tecla M, Bahiru Ehete, Bukachi Fredrick, Bloomfield Gerald S, Muiruri Peter, Farquhar Carey
Comprehensive Care Center, Kenyatta National Hospital, Nairobi, Kenya.
Departments of Global Health, Medicine and Epidemiology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA.
Open Heart. 2017 Mar 1;4(1):e000570. doi: 10.1136/openhrt-2016-000570. eCollection 2017.
Hypertension affects 23% of Kenyans and is the most prevalent modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Despite this, hypertension awareness and treatment adherence is very low. We conducted a qualitative study to explore lay beliefs about hypertension among HIV-infected adults to inform the development of culture sensitive hypertension prevention and control program.
Eight focus group discussions were held for 53 HIV-infected adults at the HIV clinic in Kenya.
Respondents had difficulties in describing hypertension. Hypertension was considered a temporary illness that is fatal and more serious than HIV. Stress was perceived as a main cause for hypertension with a large majority claiming stress reduction as the best treatment modality. Alcohol and tobacco use were not linked to hypertension. Obesity was cited as a cause of hypertension but weight control was not considered as a treatment modality even though the majority of our participants were overweight. Most participants did not believe hypertension could be prevented.
Our findings suggest a limited understanding of hypertension among people living with HIV and points to an urgent need to integrate hypertension education programmes in HIV care facilities in Kenya. To effect change, these programmes will need to tie in the culture meaning of hypertension.
高血压影响着23%的肯尼亚人，是心血管疾病最普遍的可改变风险因素。尽管如此，高血压的知晓率和治疗依从性却非常低。我们开展了一项定性研究，以探索感染艾滋病毒的成年人对高血压的普遍看法，为制定具有文化敏感性的高血压预防和控制项目提供依据。
在肯尼亚的艾滋病诊所，针对53名感染艾滋病毒的成年人进行了8次焦点小组讨论。
受访者在描述高血压方面存在困难。高血压被认为是一种致命的暂时性疾病，比艾滋病毒更严重。压力被视为高血压的主要原因，绝大多数人认为减轻压力是最佳治疗方式。饮酒和吸烟与高血压无关。肥胖被认为是高血压的一个原因，但即使大多数参与者超重，体重控制也未被视为一种治疗方式。大多数参与者认为高血压无法预防。
我们的研究结果表明感染艾滋病毒的人群对高血压的了解有限，这表明肯尼亚迫切需要在艾滋病护理机构中纳入高血压教育项目。为了实现改变，这些项目需要结合高血压的文化意义。
