Self-care Level of Adults With Arterial Hypertension in Outpatient Follow-up in Brazil: A Cross-sectional Study.

BACKGROUND: Self-care is essential for minimizing the long-term progression of hypertension (HTN) and improving global health outcomes. However, little is known about the predictors of HTN self-care among adults with HTN in Brazil. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the self-care practices and the association of sociodemographic and clinical factors of adults with HTN in Brazil. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study conducted by telephone with 120 adults with HTN monitored in a specialized outpatient clinic of a teaching hospital. Sociodemographic and clinical information was collected by a questionnaire survey. Self-care was assessed by the Self-care of Hypertension Inventory version 2. Multiple regression and Kendall's correlation analyses were performed to determine possible predictors. RESULTS: Low levels of self-care were observed across maintenance, management, and confidence measures. A weak correlation was observed between self-care maintenance and education (-0.13), the time of diagnosis (0.16), and the number of medications (0.15); self-care management and family income (0.13) and cognitive function (0.17); and self-care confidence and systolic (-0.15) and diastolic (-0.18) blood pressure values and time of diagnosis (0.16). In multiple regression analysis, self-care confidence was a predictor of self-care maintenance ( ß = 0.30; 95% confidence interval, 0.10-0.36) and management ( ß = 0.20; 95% confidence interval, 0.03-0.46). CONCLUSION: Confidence was essential in the maintenance and management of self-care and is central to the control of HTN. Self-care interventions must consider the different aspects that may affect self-care, highlighting improving self-care confidence as a main goal.

Ineffective health management in people with hypertension: Accuracy study.

PURPOSE: To analyze the accuracy of the clinical indicators of the nursing diagnosis Ineffective Health Management in people with hypertension. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional diagnostic accuracy study. The ineffective health management was investigated in 120 people with hypertension in a referral public outpatient clinic in Brazil between August and November 2020. The accuracy measures were analyzed using Rasch analysis, considering the difficulty of clinical indicator and person's ability. RESULTS: Ineffective health management is probably present in 37.5% of people with hypertension. 'Failure to include treatment regimen in daily living' was the clinical indicator with the highest sensitivity value, and 'failure to take action to reduce risk factor' had the highest specificity value. CONCLUSIONS: Rasch analysis demonstrated that all clinical indicators contribute significantly to estimating the presence of ineffective health management in people with hypertension in the outpatient scenario. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE: This research contributes by providing accurate clinical indicators of ineffective health management, helping nurses prescribe and deliver the appropriate nursing interventions for people with hypertension by telenursing.