Identifying hypertension using the Ohio Blood Pressure History Survey.
Although medical survey studies often rely on self-reported symptoms to establish the presence or absence of clinical conditions in respondents, recent findings suggest that surveys that assess a broad range of symptoms may have limited sensitivity in detecting specific clinical conditions such as hypertension. The present study evaluated the accuracy of a blood pressure history survey mailed to 800 men and women who had received treatment at a military medical facility in the previous year. Compared with their medical records, patient reports of a previous diagnosis of hypertension exhibited an overall accuracy of 94.2%. This high level of overall accuracy was associated with equally high proportions of correct identifications of high blood pressure histories (sensitivity = 95.4%) and normal blood pressure histories (specificity = 92.4%). Our findings indicate that the Ohio Blood Pressure History Survey is a highly accurate measure of hypertension history among active and retired military personnel.
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Department of Psychology, Ohio University, 245 Porter Hall, Athens, OH 45701-2979, USA.
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D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009820:Ohio / Q000453:epidemiology; D011159:Population Surveillance / Q000379:methods*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*