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Awareness, Treatment and Control of Hypertension Among Filipino Immigrants

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A Capsule Commentary to this article was published on 13 November 2013

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND

Filipino Americans have high rates of hypertension, yet little research has examined hypertension awareness, treatment, and control in this group.

OBJECTIVE

In a community-based sample of hypertensive Filipino American immigrants, we identify 1) rates of hypertension awareness, treatment, and control; and 2) factors associated with awareness, treatment, and control.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional analysis of survey data from health screenings collected from 2006 to 2010.

PARTICIPANTS

A total of 566 hypertensive Filipino immigrants in New York City, New York and Jersey City, New Jersey.

MAIN MEASURES

Hypertension awareness, treatment, and control. Participants were included in analysis if they were hypertensive, based on: a past physician diagnosis, antihypertensive medication use, and/or high blood pressure (BP) screening measurements. Demographic variables included sex, age, time in the United States, location of residence, and English spoken language fluency. Health-related variables included self-reported health, insurance status, diabetes diagnosis, high cholesterol diagnosis, clinical measures (body mass index [BMI], glucose, and cholesterol), exercise frequency, smoking status, cardiac event history, family history of cardiac event, and family history of hypertension.

RESULTS

Among the hypertensive individuals, awareness, treatment, and control rates were suboptimal; 72.1 % were aware of their status, 56.5 % were on medication, and only 21.7 % had controlled BP. Factors related to awareness included older age, worse self-reported health, family history of hypertension, and a diagnosis of high cholesterol or diabetes; factors related to treatment included older age, longer time lived in the United States, and being a non-smoker; having health insurance was found to be the main predictor of hypertension control. Many individuals had other cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors; 60.4 % had a BMI ≥25, 12.0 % had at-risk glucose measurements and 12.8 % had cholesterol ≥ 240.

CONCLUSIONS

Hypertensive Filipinos exhibit poor hypertension management, warranting increased efforts to improve awareness, treatment and control. Culturally tailored public health strategies must be prioritized to reduce CVD risk factors among at-risk minority populations.

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Acknowledgements

This publication would not be possible without the support of the staff, members, and leadership of the Kalusugan Coalition, Inc., who have given their time and expertise in designing and implementing this project. The authors would also like to thank the community health workers for their contributions in engaging stakeholders and recruiting study participants: Romerico Foz, Leonida Gamboa, Yves Nibungco, Hanalei Ramos, Henry Soliveres. The authors are especially grateful to all the community members who participated in the study.

This publication was made possible by Grant Number R24MD001786 from the National Institutes of Health National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIH NIMHD), and its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH NIMHD.

Preliminary findings from this work were previously presented at the 2011 American Public Health Association conference in Washington, D.C.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they do not have a conflict of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for the Study of Asian American Health, New York University School of Medicine, 550 First Avenue, VZN 842, New York, NY, 10016, USA

    Rhodora Ursua MPH, David Aguilar MA, Laura Wyatt MPH, Kirklyn Escondo BA, Mariano Rey MD & Chau Trinh-Shevrin DrPH

  2. General Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Shiv Darius Tandon PhD

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  1. Rhodora Ursua MPH
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  2. David Aguilar MA
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Correspondence to Rhodora Ursua MPH.

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Ursua, R., Aguilar, D., Wyatt, L. et al. Awareness, Treatment and Control of Hypertension Among Filipino Immigrants. J GEN INTERN MED 29, 455–462 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-013-2629-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-013-2629-4

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