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Collecting Hair Samples for Hair Cortisol Analysis in African Americans

The hormone cortisol is typically assessed in saliva, serum, or urine samples. More recently, cortisol has been successfully extracted from hair, ...

University of Michigan

Although cell phone use and Internet access via cell phone is not marked by racial disparities, little is known about how cell phone use relates to blood pressure and health information seeking behaviors. The purposes of this study were to (a) describe Internet activities, cell phone use, and information seeking; (b) determine differences in blood pressure and information seeking between cell phone information seekers and nonseekers; and (c) examine cell phone information seeking as a predictor of blood pressure in African American women. Participants ( N = 147) completed a survey and had their blood pressure measured. Independent-sample t tests showed a significant difference in systolic blood pressure in cell phone information seekers and nonseekers. Linear regression revealed cell phone information seeking as an independent predictor of systolic blood pressure, despite confounders. It is possible that cell phone information seekers were using health information to make decisions about self-management of blood pressure.

Cell Phone Information Seeking Explains Blood Pressure in African American Women.

Self-management of hypertension requires patients to find, understand, and use information to lower their blood pressure. Little is known about information use among African American women with hypertension, therefore the purpose of this study was to examine predictors of self-reported information use to self-manage blood pressure. Ninety-four Midwestern African American women (mean age = 59) completed questionnaires about information behaviors (seeking, sharing, use) and personal beliefs (attitude, social norms) related to self-management of blood pressure. Linear regression was used to identify significant predictors of information use. The total variance explained by the model was 36%, F(7, 79) = 6.29, p < .001. Information sharing was the only significant predictor (beta = .46, p < .001). These results provide evidence that information sharing is a potential health behavior to support intervention strategies for African American women with hypertension.

Exploring Predictors of Information Use to Self-Manage Blood Pressure in Midwestern African American Women with Hypertension.

Despite increased awareness and the advent of methods to manage the disease, hypertension is poorly controlled among African American women. This study explored hypertension knowledge and blood pressure in a sample of African American women.

Opportunities for the Advanced Practice Nurse to Enhance Hypertension Knowledge and Self-management Among African American Women.

Nearly half of African-American women have hypertension, which increases their risk for cardiovascular disease and stroke. A plethora of consumer health information products and services exist to inform people with hypertension and to promote self-management among them. Promotion of information sharing by African-American women represents a promising, culturally-applicable strategy for consumer health information services focused on hypertension self-management. Yet, how African-American women share hypertension information with others is unclear. The purpose of this qualitative, descriptive study was to examine practices of information sharing in African-American women with hypertension. Thirteen women (mean age = 73, SD = 9.87) participated in one of two focus groups held at an urban community health center. Thematic analysis revealed that the women shared information about how they self-managed their blood pressure 1) with female family members and friends, 2) about ways in which they adapted self-management strategies to work for them, 3) mostly in group settings, and 4) because they wanted to prevent others from suffering and reinforce their own knowledge about hypertension self-management. New findings emerged regarding assessing "readiness" for information. Study findings will be used to inform the design of an information sharing intervention to support self-management of hypertension in African-American women.

Lenette M. Jones

School of Nursing

University of Michigan

Collecting Hair Samples for Hair Cortisol Analysis in African Americans

Lenette M. Jones

.css-o250i3{font-size:18px;font-family:Open Sans,sans-serif;line-height:21.6px;}School of Nursing

University of Michigan

Collecting Hair Samples for Hair Cortisol Analysis in African Americans

School of Nursing