title: Self-reported and measured hypertension among older US- and foreign-born adults.
abstract: Self-reported hypertension is frequently used for health surveillance. However, little is known about the validity of self-reported hypertension among older Americans by nativity status. This study compared self-reported and measured hypertension among older black, white, and Hispanic Americans by nativity using the 2006 and 2008 Health and Retirement Study (n = 13,451). Sensitivity and specificity of self-reported hypertension were calculated using the Seventh report of the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure definition. Sensitivity was high among older blacks (88.9%), whites (82.8%), and Hispanics (84.0%), and both foreign-born (83.2%) and US-born (84.0%). Specificity was above 90% for both US-born and foreign-born, but higher for whites (92.8%) than blacks (86.0%). Despite the potential vulnerability of older foreign-born Americans, self-reported hypertension may be considered a reasonable estimate of hypertension status. Future research should confirm these findings in samples with a larger and more ethnically diverse foreign-born population.
authors: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of South Carolina Arnold School of Public Health, Columbia, SC 29208, USA. kwhite@mailbox.sc.edu
authors: Kellee
authors: K
authors: White
authors: Mauricio
authors: M
authors: Avendaño
authors: Beatrix Davoli
authors: BD
authors: Capistrant
authors: J
authors: J
authors: Robin Moon
authors: Sze Y
authors: SY
authors: Liu
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Maria Glymour
mesh_terms: D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000368:Aged; D001795:Blood Pressure Determination; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000208:ethnology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D057566:Self Report; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*