High Blood Pressure (Research Paper Sample)

High Blood Pressure
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Abstract
High blood pressure refers to the increased intensity of blood pushing against the walls of the arteries that ferry the blood to other body organs. High blood pressure has become a common problem in the modern society. In the human body, the pressure of blood usually varies during the day, but a persistent high pressure may lead to the damaging of the heart and arteries. The other name of the condition is hypertension. The following research paper will analyze the aspects of high blood pressure with the aim of developing better care practices for the nursing fraternity. The reason for the choice of the condition is that the problem has become a global challenge, especially due to the recent change in lifestyle. The incorporation of busy schedules and poor quality dietary behavior have increased pressures in people’s lives, thus resulting into conditions such as hypertension. The condition needs proper methods of control to avoid its escalation to uncontrollable levels.
High Blood Pressure
Part A
High Blood Pressure in the United States
One of the major risks of the condition is that it increases the occurrence of heart diseases and strokes. According to the Center for Disease Control, both conditions lead the charts, causing the most deaths in the United States (CDC, 2012). Statistics show that around 70 million Americans suffer from hypertension. The number translates to more than 29% of the American citizens (CDC, 2012). Only 52% of them have their condition under control, meaning that the rest 48% are exposed to the risk of heart diseases and strokes (CDC, 2012). Statistics also display that high blood pressure caused more than 300,000 deaths of the American citizens in 2013. In the United States, the primary conditions that lead to the hypertension are prehypertension and diabetes. Other risky life behaviors also contribute to the condition, and they include the increased use of tobacco, eating food that has low contents of sodium and potassium, and lack of physical activity (CDC, 2012). The condition is elusive because it does not have visible symptoms. The United States government conducts programs by means of Center of Diseases and Control (CDC) to promote policies that prevent such conditions. The policies include the promotion of physical activity among institutions of learning and the provision of healthy foods in all public institutions (CDC, 2012). An example of such programs is the Million Hearts initiative that aims to prevent one million heart attacks by 2017. The initiative also intends to enlighten the citizens on making the healthy life choices.
High Blood Pressure in the United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, the population has also been facing the challenge of controlling hypertension. The country’s measurement of the condition is a consistent reading of pressure above 140 mmHg (Ling et al., 2012). Statistics show that around 16 million adults in the United Kingdom have the condition. In terms of genders, 30% of women and a relatively similar percentage of men (32%) have the condition. Men are also more likely to contract the condition compared to women (Ling et al., 2012). The country has an annual rate of 62,000 deaths resulting from hypertension issues. In the United Kingdom, more than a third of the people living with the condition do not have the knowledge of their status (Ling et al., 2012). Another interesting statistics is that the increase in the level of the household income leads to the rise in the number of cases related to high blood pressure.
The above statistics show that high blood pressure is a global problem that has contributed to numerous deaths. Moreover, the status of the condition has been on the rise, meaning that it is a constant danger to humankind. The fact that around 30% of citizens in both countries have the condition displays the need for immediate action to reduce its prevalence.
Part B: Research Synopsis
The section of the research will present an appraisal synopsis for four peer reviewed articles that deal with the topic of hypertension.
Study #1: Nursing Research Study in the United States
Egan, B. M., Zhao, Y., & Axon, R. N. (2010). US trends in prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control of hypertension, 1988-2008. The Journal of the American Medical Association, 303(20), 2043-2050. doi:10.1001/jama.2010.650.
The article tries to examine the progress that the United States has made to manage hypertension. The basic thesis of the research is the fact that hypertension has continuously been a major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. The effective control of high blood pressure leads to the reduction of cardiovascular diseases rate. The United States had the objective to ensure that more than 50% of its population had a control of their blood pressure (Egan, Zhao, & Axon, 2010).
Is the research question relevant?
The research question is relevant based on the fact that hypertension is the greatest cause of deaths in the United States. For this reason, the country needs to identify its progress in fighting the condition in order to revise the plans according to the results of the study. Therefore, the question would help identify the government’s progress with the aim of making some improvements.
Does the study add something to the society?
The research adds some novelty to the nursing and medical world. The identification of the progress that the country has made in controlling hypertension would provide useful information which would contribute to the establishment of appropriate strategic plans.
What is the type of the research question?
The research question belongs to the category of identifying the effectiveness of measures to control a prevalent clinical condition. The formulation of the question ensured the incorporation of necessary parameters and population in order to reach the appropriate results (Egan, Zhao, & Axon, 2010). The research question was integrative because it used statistical data as well as interviews.
Is the study design appropriate?
The research design entailed the collection of relevant data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). The study employed a non-bias approach to select 42,856 adults by means of probability sampling (Egan, Zhao, & Axon, 2010). For this reason, the avoidance of bias ensured that the results of the research were credible.
Does the research entail a hypothesis testing?
The null hypothesis of the study is that the United States government has not ensured the control of hypertension for 50% of its population in order to manage their hypertension. However, the alternative hypothesis claims that the United States government has ensured the control of hypertension for half of its population suffering from the condition (Egan, Zhao, & Axon, 2010).
Does the data analysis and results conform to the original research set-up?
The research used the guidelines of NHANES; therefore, it followed the proper guidelines. The data leads to the justification of the results of the study. The study tested the level of awareness in the sampled adults by using a trend system. Moreover, the study overcame the small sample limitation by using t-tests in its surveys (Egan, Zhao, & Axon, 2010). For this reason, the data analysis method justified the results of the research. Furthermore, the study did not have any conflict of interest, meaning that it had a neutral approach.
Conclusion
Despite being limited to a small sample size of the study population, the research stages were credible. In addition, it followed the required guidelines such as those of the NHANES. For this reason, its conclusions are reliable. Furthermore, the study concluded that the government has been making good progress when it comes to enlightening its population on how to control hypertension. Moreover, the study found that the government would achieve its objective, which entailed ensuring that 50% of the citizens had control of their blood pressure as of 2010 (Egan, Zhao, & Axon, 2010). However, the research advocated for pharmacological interventions to speed the process.
Study #2: Nursing Research in a Non-US Country
Falaschetti, E., Chaudhury, M., Mindell, J., & Poulter, N. (2010). Continued improvement in hypertension management in England: Results from the Health Survey for England 2006. Epidemiology/Population Studies, 53(3), 480-486.
The article tries to identify the progress that the English government has made to ensure proper management of hypertension. The research concentrated on years 2003 and 2006. The sample size comprised 7,478 adults (Falaschetti, Chaudhury, Mindell, & Poulter, 2010).
Is the research question relevant?
The research question is relevant because it aims to identify whether the English government has done enough to manage the increasing incidence of high blood pressure.
Does the study add something to the society?
The research would enable the government to make amendments in case the study discovered that the efforts by the government did not reach the desired levels. For this reason, the research would form a base to conduct the future research on the best ways to manage the high blood pressure problem.
3. What is the type of the research question?
The research was integrative due to the use of quantitative and qualitative data. The formulation of the question ensured that the research included the right parameters and population to complete the study (Falaschetti, Chaudhury, Mindell, & Poulter, 2010).
Is the research design appropriate?
The research used data from the Health Survey for England (HSE), which is a government branch that collects detailed information on its population’s health aspe...