The Incidence of Hypertension and the Follow-Up Rate in A Sample of Population Over30 Years Old in Kashan 2013

Introduction: studies indicate that hypertension is prevalent in iran,however, the reports are heterogeneous. the aim of this study was to estimate theincidence of hypertension and the rate of follow-up in a sample of population over 30years old in kashan city. methods: a descriptive study was conducted on peoplescreened for hypertension in the project of “monitoring the health of iranianpopulation” in kashan city at april 2013. among all completed screening forms, 5000forms were selected randomly. required data were extracted from these forms and wererecorded on a checklist that was consisted of 9 questions on demographicscharacteristics and 10 questions about follow-up. descriptive statistics, independentsample t-test, paired t-test and pearson correlation coefficient was used to analyzethe data. results: totally, 5% of the enrolled people had a systolic blood pressureover 140 mmhg and a diastolic pressure over 90 mmhg. only 92 subjects with high bloodpressure were available via telephone. also, 42.42% of cases refused to answer. fromall subjects who were available and answered the study questions, 50% had beenreferred to a physician after 5.17 (6.05) days. of these, 52.2% were diagnosed asbeing hypertensive. lacking time was the main reason for non-referral. conclusion: theincidence of hypertension was less than other studies but the rate of follow-up waslow. nurses and iranian nursing organization are suggested to conduct a nationwidescreening and follow-up project to improve the rate of early diagnosis and help peoplein better management of hypertension.