title: Ability of Nigerian hypertensive patients to perceive changes in their blood pressure.
abstract: The objective of this study was to examine the ability of hypertensive patients to predict correctly when their blood pressure (BP) was elevated, and the symptoms they felt when such changes occurred. We also sought to determine whether literacy levels or the number of years that a patient had been diagnosed as hypertensive had a correlation with whether a patient was a predictor and whether he was an accurate predictor. One hundred and seventy-seven patients were studies, of which 101 (57.1%) claimed they could tell when their BP was elevated. Only 45 (44.5%) of the predictors were right in their prediction. Although being literate and longer time of being hypertensive was found to be likely to make a patient a predictor, neither of these variables was likely to make a predictor accurate. Predictors were also likely to be younger than non-predictors. The symptoms the patients were likely to complain about as denoting a rise in BP included headache (20.4%), weakness/tiredness (20.4%) and palpitation (18.5%). The study has shown that the majority of predictors were not accurate and so hypertensive patients should be counseled not to depend on how they feel but to visit physicians regularly for BP checks.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, Sagamu, Nigeria.
authors.forename: O B
authors.initials: OB
authors.lastname: Familoni
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Ariba
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D001795:Blood Pressure Determination; D018660:Blood Pressure Monitoring, Ambulatory; D015331:Cohort Studies; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003906:Developing Countries; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009549:Nigeria / Q000453:epidemiology; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010349:Patient Compliance; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011336:Probability; D012307:Risk Factors; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors