Abstract:
Background: Hypertension is a major risk factor for
cardiovascular disease, yet many health care workers rarely
check their blood pressure. The detection of hypertension
among health care workers is key to prevention of
hypertension, its attendant complications in the community
and a strategy for health care workers retention.
Objective: To determine the prevalence and correlates of
undiagnosed hypertension among health care workers in a
secondary health care facility.
Methods: Using a structured questionnaire, sociodemographic
variables and risk factors for hypertension were
obtained. Measurements of blood pressure, weight, height and
waist circumference were carried out and body mass index
calculated.
Results: The prevalence of hypertension was 41.9%. The
prevalence of undiagnosed hypertension was 35.1%.
Multivariate analysis showed that age greater than 42 years
(OR=0.24; 95%CI: 0.10-0.72) is a significant correlate of
undiagnosed hypertension. Those who self-reported that they
had been diagnosed to have hypertension were 15.5% of the
study population. Among those who had self-reported
hypertension, 79.1% were found to have hypertension by the
researchers while among those who had no history of
hypertension, 35.1% were hypertensive. When a history of
hypertension is used as a screening test for the diagnosis of
hypertension, it gave a sensitivity of 29.2%, a specificity of
94.4%, a positive predictive value of 79.1%, a negative
predictive value of 64.9% and an accuracy of 67.1%.
Conclusion: One in three persons had undiagnosed
hypertension and those who were over 42 years are at risk for
undiagnosed hypertension. This calls for urgent workplace
strategies to create more awareness as a prevention and control
strategy for the facility and the general population.
