Undiagnosed prehypertension/hypertension in Canadian adolescents: The critical role of the public health nurse

Autor: Jill Bally, Carol Bullin, Diane E. Allan, Shelley Spurr
Rok vydání: 2020
Předmět:
Zdroj: Public Health Nursing. 37:837-845
ISSN: 1525-1446
0737-1209
DOI: 10.1111/phn.12792
Popis: Objective To investigate the prevalence of undiagnosed prehypertension/hypertension and other associated comorbidities in adolescents living in rural and urban settings in a mid-Western Canadian province. Design and measures Data reported herein were derived from two cross-sectional studies, whereby adolescents attending either a rural (N = 143) or urban (N = 253) school were screened for blood pressure, anthropometric measures, and blood glucose measurements. Data analysis included descriptive and inferential statistics in addition to chi-square analyses. Results Notable prevalence of undiagnosed prehypertension/hypertension was found. Adolescents living in urban settings (49%, N = 123) were significantly more likely to have prehypertension/hypertension than rural (23%, N = 33) living adolescents. With regard to other comorbidities, the prevalence of elevated HbA1c in the urban group (32%) was significantly higher than the rural adolescents (19%); however, there was similar prevalence of overweight/obese adolescents between the urban (37%) and rural (36%) groups. Conclusions The prevalence of adolescent undiagnosed prehypertension/hypertension, elevated blood glucose measurements, and overweight/obesity is concerning in both urban and rural settings. Public health nurses are uniquely positioned in health care to facilitate interventions focused on preventing and managing adolescent prehypertension/hypertension and its associated comorbidities.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
Externí odkaz: