Newly Reported Hypertension after Military Combat: Deployment in a Large Population-based Study
Abstract
Objective: We sought to determine the prevalence of hypertension and the reliability of self-report from a large, population-based cohort, compared with electronic medical diagnosis and record of prescriptions dispensed to active-duty US military personnel. Research Design: Self-reported hypertension from baseline Millennium Cohort data were used in addition to hypertensive outpatient and inpatient diagnoses, and antihypertensive medications dispensed from US Department of Defense pharmacy records to determine the prevalence of hypertension among US service members. Percent agreement and kappa statistics were calculated to evaluate overall agreement between self-report and other sources of hypertension assessment. Results: The prevalence of hypertension was 5.0% from provider diagnosis, 7.0% based on antihypertensive medication dispensed, 10.0% from self-report, and 13.3% using any of the 3 sources. There was moderate agreement between self-reported and electronically recorded diagnosed hypertension (kappa = 0.50; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.49-0.52), and self-report and at least 1 antihypertensive medication dispensed in the pharmacy system (kappa = 0.49; 95% CI, 0.47- 0.50). When self-report was compared with the combined provider diagnoses plus antihypertensive medication dispensed, there was moderate agreement (kappa = 0.48; 95% CI, 0.46-0.50). Conclusions: Information gained from electronic medical records can complement self-report when identifying hypertensive patients in the absence of blood pressure measurements. Moderate agreement was observed between self-report and diagnosis, antihypertensive medication dispensed, and combined diagnosis plus antihypertensive medication dispensed.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Nov 01, 2009
- Accession Number
- ADA620095
Entities
People
- Besa Smith
- Edward J. Boyko
- Eyal Shahar
- G. M. Swanson
- Margaret A.K. Ryan
- Nisara S. Granado
- Robin B. Harris
- Timothy Steven Wells
- Tyler Clain Smith
Organizations
- Naval Health Research Center