Now, keep up to date
with daily feeds of newly posted stories
about America's Seniors...click on the box
to the left
Study
confirms benefits of Mobile Health Screening
Program to help diagnose At-Risk Populations
Newswise — Results presented today at the
American Society of Hypertension's Twenty
Fourth Annual Scientific Meeting (ASH 2009)
reveal that hypertension is still
disproportionally prevalent in
African-American women living in Boston’s
inner city neighborhoods, despite recent
improvements in diagnostic and treatment
options.
Study authors conclude that a mobile health
screening method is effective in identifying
and educating undiagnosed or poorly
controlled hypertension populations with
limited access to preventative healthcare
and call for an increase in community-based
interventions to reduce their risk of
cardiovascular disease.
Family Van is a mobile health program of
Harvard Medical School which provides health
education, screening for cardiovascular risk
factors, and prevention services, as well as
referrals to medical and social service
agencies, to an estimated 50,000 of Boston's
residents.
Patients do not need appointments, medical
insurance or even identification. All
information they receive is free of charge,
and the information they share is kept
private.
Between 1998 and 2008, a total of 14,885
women visited the Family Van mobile
screening unit.
Among them 10,147 were screened for
hypertension of which 42 percent had
pre-hypertension (23 percent stage I
hypertension and 8 percent stage II or
greater hypertension respectively).
Among the women with stage I or higher blood
pressure, 1,240 (38 percent) were newly
diagnosed.
Hypertension (stage I or higher) was more
prevalent in the African-American population
(60 percent) as compared to Caucasian (5
percent), Hispanic (7 percent) and Asian (1
percent) respectively.
Compared with Caucasian and other races,
African-American women also had higher mean
systolic blood pressure.
“Overall, African-Americans in Boston are
more likely than white Boston residents to
die from heart disease as they have much
higher rates of hypertension – the most
common reversible cardiovascular disease
risk factor,” said study leader, Farhan
Aslam, M.D., Brigham and Women’s Hospital,
Boston, MA.
“The Family Van model illustrates how
successful community-based interventions can
be in reaching the most at-risk populations
who face many barriers to adequate
healthcare.
"Importantly,
its focus on prevention gives Boston’s
neediest access to healthcare that is
culturally appropriate and cost-effective.”
Despite unequivocal evidence that treating
hypertension decreases the risk of heart
attack and stroke, only a third of patients
are adequately controlled.
By 2025, it is predicted that more than 1.5
billion individuals worldwide will have
hypertension, accounting for up to 50
percent of heart disease risk and 75 percent
of stroke risk.
“These mobile health screening programs are
really a new version of the traditional
doctor ‘house call.’
"We
are encouraged that this ‘community call’ is
proving successful in Boston,” said Henry
Black, M.D., president of the American
Society of Hypertension.
“We’re hopeful that, with the right
resources, interventions similar to the
Family Van can be utilized in communities
across the country.”
About the American
Society of Hypertension
The American Society of Hypertension (ASH)
is the largest U.S. professional
organization of scientific investigators and
healthcare professionals committed to
eliminating hypertension and its
consequences.
ASH is dedicated to promoting strategies to
prevent hypertension and to improving the
care of patients with hypertension and
associated disorders.
The Society serves as a scientific forum
that bridges current hypertension research
with effective clinical treatment strategies
for patients. For more information, please
visit
www.ash-us.org.
... ..
...
...