Friday, July 11, 2003

This presentation is part of : Populations at Risk Continued

Hypertension Screening and Health Behaviors Profiling in the Indigenous Vietnamese

Diep Ngoc Duong, RN, PhD, Tri-Service Nursing Research Program, Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, USA and Mary Candice Ross, RN, PhD, Associate Dean, College of Nursing, Univ of South Alabama, Mobile, AL, USA.
Learning Objective #1: Appreciate the magnitude of HBP incidence in the indigenous population in Viet Nam
Learning Objective #2: List three most prevalent risks for cardiovascular disease in the indigenous population in Viet Nam

Objective: The objective of this study is to describe the incidence of high blood pressure (HBP) and associated health risk behaviors in an indigenous population in Viet Nam (VN).

Design: Descriptive.

Population/Sample/Setting/Years: The population of interest is an indigenous Vietnamese who live in urban and suburban areas in one of the largest city in VN. The total sample included 357 subjects; 35% male, and 65% female. The mean age was 44.9 (±17). Data were collected between Feb and Nov 2000.

Variables Studied: Blood pressure (BP) was measured by Welch-Allyn. Health habits and HBP knowledge were assessed using 16-item questionnaire and 12-item test, respectively. Both measures were translated and back-translated.

Findings: This sample had a notably high prevalence of HBP: 36.4%, as compared to 24% in Americans, and 32% in Korean Americans. However, this prevalence is relatively moderate as compared to the 44% in the Vietnamese who reside in the U.S. HBP much more common in older (69%) than younger (13%) Vietnamese. HBP also was much higher in those with lower education level (59% vs 13%). As compared to female participants, male participants were much more likely to use alcohol (55% vs 2%) and tobacco (60% vs 3%). As a group, the participants were active in regular exercise (35.9%). Despite the availability of socialized health care, 27% participants bought additional health care insurance. Albeit of free health care, only 40% seek health care on annual basis. As a whole, the group scored low (1/2 of total possible points) on HBP knowledge test.

Conclusions: The Vietnamese sampled in this screening reflected high risk for cardiovascular diseases. Most prevalent risks were: HBP, smoking, age, low HBP knowledge.

Implications: General low awareness of HBP and poor health behavior practice indicates that health screening/education initiatives are timely for this population.

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Sigma Theta Tau International
10-12 July 2003