A Comparison of Measured and Self-Reported Blood Pressure Status among Low-Income Housing Residents in New York City

Authors

James H. Williams AB, New York University School of MedicineFollow
Dustin T. Duncan ScD, New York University School of MedicineFollow
Jonathan Cantor MS, New York University School of MedicineFollow
Brian Elbel PhD MPH, New York University School of MedicineFollow
Gbenga Ogedegbe MD MS MPH, New York University School of MedicineFollow
Joseph Ravenell MD MS, New York University School of MedicineFollow

Keywords

hypertension; blood pressure; self-report; low-income housing residents; low-income population; health disparities

Disciplines

Cardiovascular Diseases | Community Health and Preventive Medicine | Public Health

Abstract

Self-report is widely used to measure hypertension prevalence in population-based studies, but there is little research comparing self-report with measured blood pressure among low-income populations. The objective of this study was to compare self-reported and measured blood pressure status among a sample of low-income housing residents in New York City (n=118). We completed a cross-sectional analysis comparing self-report with measured blood pressure status. We determined the sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive value (PPV) of each self-report metric. Of the sample, 68.1% was Black, 71.1% had a household income under $25,000/year, and 28.5% did not complete high school. In our study, there was a discrepancy in the prevalence hypertension by self-report (30.5%) versus measurement (39.8%). PPV of self-report was 94.4%. Specificity was 97.2%. Hypertension awareness (sensitivity) was 72.3%. Of individuals not reporting hypertension, 15.9% had measurements in the hypertensive range and 43.9% had measurements in the borderline hypertensive range. Our findings suggest that self-reported and objective measures of hypertension are incongruent among low-income housing residents and may have important implications for population-based research among low-income populations.

Recommended Citation

Williams, James H. AB; Duncan, Dustin T. ScD; Cantor, Jonathan MS; Elbel, Brian PhD MPH; Ogedegbe, Gbenga MD MS MPH; and Ravenell, Joseph MD MS (2016) "A Comparison of Measured and Self-Reported Blood Pressure Status among Low-Income Housing Residents in New York City," Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice: Vol. 9: Iss. 4, Article 9.
Available at: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/jhdrp/vol9/iss4/9