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Hypertensive And Modeling Their Social
Determinants Of Self-Rated Health Status
In A Middle-Income Developing Nation
1-8
Correspondence
Paul A. Bourne, Director, Socio-Medical Research Institute, Kingston, Jamaica (Formerly, Research Fellow and Biostatistician, Dept of Community Health and Psychiatry, UWI, Mona, Jamaica). Email: paulbourne1@yahoo.com. 876 457-6990 (mobile).
Introduction: A piecemeal approach has been taken in studies on hypertension, but there is a void in the literature on (1) the socio-demographic profile of those with the disease in a Latin American and Caribbean nation, (2) healthcare seeking behaviour, (3) healthcare utilization, and (4) modelling the social determinants of self-rated health status.
Objective: The aim of this study was to elucidate information on hypertension and the socio-demographic profile of those with the disease in a Latin American and Caribbean nation, as well as to model the self-rated health status of the hypertensives.
Materials and methods: The current study used the 2007 Jamaica Survey of Living Conditions dataset to carry out the analyses. This study extracted a sub-sample of 206 respondents, who indicated being diagnosed with hypertension, from a larger, nationally cross-sectional survey.
Statistical Analyses: The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences for Windows, Version 16.0 (SPSS Inc; Chicago, IL, USA), and STATA were used to analyze the data. Multiple logistic regressions were used to analyze the possible explanatory variables of self-rated health status.
Results: Twenty-seven in every 100 hypertensive persons had at least a good self-rated health status. The current study found that 2.5 times more females than males were affected by hypertension; and that the hypertensives were more likely to: be married, be elderly, utilise private health care facilities, record moderate health status, be in the lower socioeconomic strata, and be rural dwellers. Most had sought medical care during the last 4-week period. Rural hypertensives recorded the greatest very poor health status, and two variables emerged as statistically significant factors of the self-rated health status of the hypertensives in Jamaica.
Conclusion: Our findings have provided policy makers with evidence that can be used to enhance policy formulation and intervention programmes.