WORLD JOURNAL OF ADVANCE
HEALTHCARE RESEARCH

Janice Mukwayu Mulei and Francis Matheka Muoki*

ABSTRACT

Hypertension is a serious medical condition that significantly increases the risks of heart, brain, kidney and other disease causing premature death. An estimated 1.13 million people worldwide have hypertension. Screening for hypertension helps detect elevated blood pressure so that treatment can begin as required to prevent complications of late diagnosis. Persons at increased risk for hypertension should voluntarily be screened every year while those with lower risk screening every 3 years. The main objective for the study was to determine voluntary screening for hypertension among non-hypertensive adults attending Mwingi Level IV Hospital. This focused on awareness and uptake of screening for hypertension. A cross-sectional hospital-based design was used. The area of study was Mwingi Level IV Hospital. Included non-hypertensive adults, aged above 18 years who consented for participation. Simple random sampling method and a sample of 50 subjects was selected. Data collection was by a questionnaire and was analyzed using Microsoft excel and SPSS Version 21. Descriptive statistics computed included frequencies, proportions and percentages. A very small proportion (5%) of the respondents had screened for hypertension and was motivated by their sick status (60%) from other illnesses since it was a compulsory check their blood pressure checked before consultation. More than half (60%) of the respondents were females aged 40-50 years and majority of them were married (70%). Majority of the respondents (95%), were knowledgeable on hypertension. The main source of information on hypertension was the school (50%). In conclusions, there is low uptake of voluntary screening for hypertension among the respondents. Thus a need to promote awareness on hypertension at community levels through campaigns on screening for early detection and timely management.

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