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Original research article
Cardiac risk factors and prevention
Lay beliefs about hypertension among HIV-infected adults in Kenya
  1. Tecla M Temu1⇑,
  2. Ehete Bahiru2,
  3. Fredrick Bukachi3,
  4. Gerald S Bloomfield4,
  5. Peter Muiruri1 and
  6. Carey Farquhar2
  1. 1Comprehensive Care Center, Kenyatta National Hospital, Nairobi, Kenya
  2. 2Departments of Global Health, Medicine and Epidemiology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
  3. 3Department of Physiology, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya
  4. 4Department of Medicine, Duke Clinical Research Institute and Duke Global Health Institute, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA
  1. Correspondence to Tecla M Temu; Tecla_Temu{at}alumni.brown.edu

Abstract

Objective Hypertension affects 23% of Kenyans and is the most prevalent modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Despite this, hypertension awareness and treatment adherence is very low. We conducted a qualitative study to explore lay beliefs about hypertension among HIV-infected adults to inform the development of culture sensitive hypertension prevention and control program.

Methods Eight focus group discussions were held for 53 HIV-infected adults at the HIV clinic in Kenya.

Results Respondents had difficulties in describing hypertension. Hypertension was considered a temporary illness that is fatal and more serious than HIV. Stress was perceived as a main cause for hypertension with a large majority claiming stress reduction as the best treatment modality. Alcohol and tobacco use were not linked to hypertension. Obesity was cited as a cause of hypertension but weight control was not considered as a treatment modality even though the majority of our participants were overweight. Most participants did not believe hypertension could be prevented.

Conclusion Our findings suggest a limited understanding of hypertension among people living with HIV and points to an urgent need to integrate hypertension education programmes in HIV care facilities in Kenya. To effect change, these programmes will need to tie in the culture meaning of hypertension.

  • Explanatory
  • Model
  • HIV
  • Hypertension
  • sub-Saharan Africa
  • Cardiovascular diseases

This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt and build upon this work, for commercial use, provided the original work is properly cited. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

https://doi.org/10.1136/openhrt-2016-000570

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    Footnotes

    • Contributors TMT and CF contributed to the conception and design of the study, data acquisition, analysis and interpretation, the manuscript drafting and the critical revision of the manuscript. EB contributed to the manuscript drafting and the critical revision of the manuscript. GSB, PM, FB contributed to design of the study, the manuscript drafting and the critical revision of the manuscript.

    • Funding This study was funded by award from Fogarty International Center of the National Institutes of Health (R25TW009345).

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

    • Data sharing statement No additional data are available.