Healthcare Assignment | Disease Prevention

1Running head: HEALTHCARE
Healthcare
Name of student:
Name of university:
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Table of Contents
I.Introduction..............................................................................................................................3
II.Significance of the Study........................................................................................................4
III.Review of Literature.............................................................................................................5
IV.Research Methodology.......................................................................................................11
V.Limitation/Delimitation........................................................................................................27
VI.Summary.............................................................................................................................28
VII.Recommendations.............................................................................................................28
VIII.Appendix..........................................................................................................................29
IX.References...........................................................................................................................32

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I. Introduction
The past one decade has witnessed a rapid increase in the burden of public health
concerns that have drawn the attention of public health departments across the globe.
Research is being conducted extensively to understand the effective strategies that when
applied can ensure prevention of the disease occurrence among the populations. Among the
most notable diseases and health conditions that have emerged as crucial public health
concerns in the recent past is hypertension, as pointed out by (Bakris & Sorrentino, 2017).
Primary hypertension is one of the world’s major risk factors for disease burden and is
expected to be the cause of millions of deaths annually due to cardiovascular diseases when
speaking on a global scale. Hypertension has been strongly correlated with some of the
adverse outcomes individuals can suffer such as heart failure, ischemic heart disease, stroke
and end-stage renal disease. The challenges and concerns regarding management of
hypertension and prevention of the same are unlikely to concede. As per statistical data, the
global burden of hypertension is supposed to increase by almost 60% by 2025. This would
imply that about 1.6 billion adults would be affected by this condition. Considerable
challenges remain in the attempt to decrease the burden of this condition. Firstly, the frequent
un-diagnosis of hypertension is a major issue, and early detection leads to end-organ damage.
Further, a major section of the patient population fails to adhere to the disease management
guidelines. In addition, there is some uncertainty as to the appropriate treatment target for
high-risk patients. Lastly, there is a low level of awareness among the public regarding the
risk factors for hypertension and the course of appropriate care (Iadecola et al., 2016).
A large pool of literature has concentrated on hypertension, encompassing both the
risk factors and preventive measures, but there also lies some limitations of these studies.
Noteworthy progress has not been achieved in understanding the awareness level, treatment

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and detection process and control measures that are perceived as important by individuals
across the community. There is a need for further research that can highlight the views and
perceptions of individuals so that the concerns faced by these people can be addressed at the
grass root level (Dominiczak & Kuo, 2018).
II. Significance of the Study
a) Research Questions
Research indicates that there lies a gap in existing literature that highlights the impact of
hypertension on daily lives of individuals across communities. Further, research is also
required to understand the significant risk factors for hypertension in the social and economic
context of communities. In addition, extensive research is required to highlight the suitable
prevention strategies that when applied to the community can arrest the increasing prevalence
of hypertension among individuals. The present research aimed at addressing the following
research questions to gain valuable insights into the important health topic of hypertension-
 What is hypertension? What are the main signs and symptoms of hypertension?
 What are the important risk factors for developing hypertension?
 How does hypertension affect people in their daily lives?
 How can hypertension be prevented and the risk of developing the disease be
reduced?
b) Definitions
Hypertension, also termed as high blood pressure, is the long term medical condition
in which the individiauls have persistently elevated blood pressure of the arteries. High blood
pressure does not lead to symptoms when speaking in general terms. High blood pressure is
classified as primary or secondary high blood pressure.

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Blood pressure in humans is measured by the systolic and diastolic pressures,that
denote that manimum and minimum pressures respectively. For healthy adults, the normal
reference range of blood pressure is between 100–130 millimeters mercury (mmHg) systolic
and 60–80 mmHg diastolic pressure. High blood pressure is denoted when the blood pressure
is persistently at or above 30/90 or 140/90 mmHg. For children, the rnage varies between
individuals (Galie et al., 2015).
III. Review of Literature
Hypertension is certainly a leading factor behind premature mortality and what is
striking is that hypertension is preventbale. Mill et al., (2016) carried out a study to examine
the global disparities of prevalenc, control and treatment of hypertension in 2010. A rigorous
literature search was done for concluding the results. In 2010, the proportion of the global
population with hypertension was 31.1%. high income countries contributed to 28.5% of this
number whie low and middle income countries contributed to 31.5%. the age-standardized
prevalence of hypertension witnessed a decrease by 2.6% from the year 2000 to 2010 in high
income countries. In constrast, the number increased by 7.7% in middle and low income
countries. The ultimate conclusion was that global hypertension is on the rise and
collaborative initiatives are required at the earliest for combating the increasing the burden of
hypertension. Hypertension leads to increased healthcare costs as opined by Isllam et al.,
(2015). Major economic burden have been felt on households, individuals, healthcare systems
and the entire nation due to the increasing prevalence of hypertension. Investments to prevent
hypertension would lead to cost-saving, as indicated by previous studies. In a number of
developing countries, and some developed countries, hypertension is often undiagnosed.
Though effective lifestyle interventions and therapies have been articulated across literature,
full control of the growing burden of the disease still remains difficult to achieve.

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Hypertension in children and adolescents is strikingly detectable. In children, just as
adults, hypertension has been linked with lifestyle factors, obesity and family history of
hypertension. Due to well established epidemic of obesity, high blood pressure prevalence is
also increasing. Though cardiovascular disability and death are not common in children
suffering from hypertension, target organ damage is common such as left ventricular
hypertrophy, retinal vascular changes, thickening of the carotid vessel wall, and even subtle
cognitive change (Falkner, 2010). Lurbe and Ingelfinger (2016) in this regard mentioned that
data present on childhood blood pressure has seen a substantial increase over the past three
decades. The progress marked in data is to be used as research advances that would precisely
translate into clinical practice.
Hu et al., (2017) studied the risk factors for hypertension with the justification that
hypertension is a helaht challenge faced by all countries worldwide. At present, 1.5 billion
people are estimated to suffer from this disease. Blood pressure (BP) values of 120–139/80–
89 mm Hg have a distinct link with increased risk of mortality and cardiovascular morbidity.
Themain reasons for hypertension is fast economic development, urbinsation, population
aging and dietary habits. The researchers undertook a study with multivariate logistic
regression analysis and SPSS for assessing determinants of hypertension. The risk of
hypertension increased with a sharp increase in BMI. There was also a significant correlation
between increasing age and hypertension. Abdominal, smoking and menopause in women
were other risk factors. Another notebale revealation was that the overnall prevelance of
hypertension was higher in males when compared to females. However, the prevalence in
females aged above 65 years was more than that in males belonging to the same age group.
The prevalence of hypertension had the tendency to increase with age, more for people with
age 45 years and above. Further,

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According to Mollaoglu et al., (2015) hypertension is a chronic disease that leads to
different organ injury and thus the target for life-long therapy revolves around keeping
hypertension under control. Research indicates that in more than half of the patient
population suffering from hypertension, bood pressure is not controlled optimally.
Hypertension has been denoted to impair significantly the quality of life and shorten the life
span of the individual. This is more prominent in the advanced stages of the disease though
the course is not evident in the initial stages. Hypertensive patients coomonly feel the
psychology of suffering from a chronic disease. They also face challenges and difficulties in
changing their lifestyle so as to control high blood pressure. As a result there is a negative
impact on the quality of life. previous studies had indicated that factors such as exercise and
diet have a negative impact on quality of life in hypertensive patients. the study conducted by
the researchers found that females are more likely to suffer from hypertension than males. It
further highlighted that the majority of patients do not undergo checkups on a regular basis
for hypertensive therapy.
Khaw et al., (2011) carried out a survey to highlighted the health-related quality of
life (HRQOL) among patients suffering from hypertension and compared the same with
general population. the study used the 36-item short form for measuring different aspects of
quality of life of 388 hypertensive patients. the study result indicated that hypertension was
responsible for reducing HRQOL to a considerable degree. Further, cardiovascular
comorbidities exacerbated the reductions. The researchers suggested that future research is
required to understand the effective interventions that can ensure suitbaale HRQOL. Oza et
al., (2014) highlighted that female gender, age, number of symptoms, duration, systolic blood
pressure and number of medications are crucial predictors of QOL in hypertensive patients.
this finding was supported by the research of Pangtey and Singh (2016) who concluded from
their descriptive cross sectional study that most hypertensive patients suffer poor quality of

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life. As per the researchers quality of life is a vital outcome for hypertensive patients which
is affected in an adverse manner by both hypertension itself and the side effects of the drugs.
The results of the study further indicated that women had poorer QOL when compared to
men. Other studies such as that of De Carvalho et al., (2013) also point out the same results
that systematic hypertension impairs QOL. Health professionals are to give more attention to
QOL of patients and seek changes in the therapeutic approaches. Social and medical
alternatives having a suitable influence on QOL can be a good approach. A better patient-
docor relationship would also be beneficial for enabling blood pressure control.
Oza et al., (2014) however commented that reports of QOL among patients with
hypertension has been fundamentally conflicting. While some studies point out that QOL
among hypertensives is poor as compared to the general population, other studies point out
that hypertension has no influence on the QOL. Soni et al. (2011) contradicts that HRQOL is
impaired due to comorbidities and complications. The review article of the researchers
pointed out that QOL is poorer when the patient is suffering from co-existent diseases such as
diabetes and chronic kidney disease. Themost prominent impact of hypertension was on the
physcial function domains of QOL. Evidences highlighted that ACE-inhibitors were useful
for improving cardiovascular outcomes and renal outcomes in hypertensive patients.
however, the role in amelioration of QOL outcomes were not established. Wang et al., (2009)
highlighted that hypertension jas been associated with symptoms such as dizziness, anxiety,
tiredness and headache, that lead to increased stress. As a result, patients suffer poor mental
health since their is impaired social functioning, mood and psychological functioning.
Sociodemographic factors such as region of residence, gender, age, marital status, frequency
of activities, educational level, family monthly income and occupation influences dimension
of QOL.