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A Systematic Review of Beliefs About Hypertension and its Treatment Among African Americans

  • Prevention of Hypertension: Public Health Challenges (P Muntner, Section Editor)
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose of Review

The prevalence of hypertension and uncontrolled hypertension is higher among African Americans than any other ethnicity in the USA. Certain patient medical beliefs may lead to adverse health behaviors. The aim of this study was to systematically review and narratively synthesize beliefs about hypertension among African Americans.

Recent findings

In a narrative review of 22 studies, many participants attributed hypertension to stress and fatty foods. Hypertension was perceived to be an episodic, symptomatic disease. Many patients exhibited a strong faith in the efficacy of medications, but used them as needed to treat perceived intermittent hypertensive episodes or infrequently to avoid addiction and dependence. Home remedies were often reported to be used concurrently to treat the folk disease “high blood” or in place of medications associated with unwanted effects. Nevertheless, participants were invested in treatment of hypertension to prevent long-term complications. Trends over time suggest that beliefs about hypertension among African Americans have change significantly and now reflect the currently accepted biomedical model.

Summary

African American beliefs about hypertension may frequently differ from those of healthcare professionals. These results suggest that reconciliation of differences between patient and provider expectations for disease management may improve adherence to and acceptance of medical treatments among African Americans with hypertension. Nevertheless, discordant health beliefs are common among all patients and additional work to elucidate beliefs of other patient subgroups such as age and gender is warranted.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmacotherapy and Outcomes Science, Victoria Johnson Research Laboratories and VCU Pauley Heart Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, 1200 E Broad Street, West Hospital Rm 520, Richmond, VA, 23298, USA

    Leo Buckley

  2. Department of Pharmacy Services, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA

    Stephanie Labonville

  3. Department of Pharmacy and Health Systems Sciences, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA

    Judith Barr

Authors
  1. Leo Buckley
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  2. Stephanie Labonville
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  3. Judith Barr
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Correspondence to Leo Buckley.

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Conflict of Interest

Drs. Buckley, Labonville, and Barr declare no conflicts of interest.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Prevention of Hypertension: Public Health Challenges

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Buckley, L., Labonville, S. & Barr, J. A Systematic Review of Beliefs About Hypertension and its Treatment Among African Americans. Curr Hypertens Rep 18, 52 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11906-016-0662-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11906-016-0662-5

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