Hypertension Status and Associations with Self-Rated Health and General Practitioner Health Seeking in a Rural Australian Cohort.

Alex Gavino,Craig McLachlan,Vivian Isaac

doi:10.3390/jcdd5040053

Alex Gavino, Craig McLachlan + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/jcdd5040053

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Abstract

Hypertension is the most frequently managed condition by Australian general practitioners (GP). Knowledge of hypertension and blood pressure (BP) values may motivate individuals to seek GP management. Our study aims to determine the associations of knowledge of BP values, BP perception, GP health seeking, and self-rated health (SRH) in a rural population. Two-hundred and seventy-eight (278) residents responded to the health survey on socio-demographic profile, medical history, BP knowledge and perception, SRH, and GP visit frequency. Associations were evaluated using Chi-squared test and multivariate logistic regression. Cohort mean age was 63.6 (12.4) years with 63.3% females. Hypertension (37.8%) was the most common condition. GP visits were made at least once every month (19.1%), every 2–6 months (35.6%), >6 months (11.5%), or only when needed (29.5%). Univariate analyses showed age, education, alcohol consumption, comorbidities, hypertension status, and SRH were significantly associated with visit frequency. After adjustments, hypertension status (OR = 3.6, 95% CI [1.7, 7.9]) and poor SRH (OR = 3.1, 95% CI [1.4, 7.0]) were significantly associated with frequent monthly visits. Our cohort demonstrated that having hypertension and poor self-rated health were associated with frequent monthly GP visits. The perception of high blood pressure does not drive seeking additional GP input.

Highlights

Hypertension is the most frequently managed medical condition by general practitioners (GP) in Australia, responsible for 7.5% of patient encounters in practice [1]
Our study aims to determine the associations of knowledge of blood pressure (BP) values, perception of BP condition, GP health seeking, and self-rated health (SRH)
After adjusting for factors with significant associations in the univariate analyses, we found that only hypertension status (OR = 3.6, 95% CI [1.7, 7.9], p = 0.001) and poor SRH (OR = 3.1, 95% CI [1.4, 7.0], p < 0.01) were significantly associated with frequent monthly GP visits

Summary

Introduction

Hypertension is the most frequently managed medical condition by general practitioners (GP) in Australia, responsible for 7.5% of patient encounters in practice [1]. Knowledge and awareness of blood pressure (BP) status likely influences a person’s BP control via GP review or therapeutic management [2,3]. In Australia, awareness of BP condition has been reported to be variable across rural populations. Janus and colleagues reported that 62.1% of hypertensive rural patients were aware of their high BP status [7], while another study reported a much lower level of awareness (43.4%) [8]. Whether BP knowledge and perception are associated with health seeking has not been reported in Australian rural populations

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