Accuracy and influential factors for hypertension prevalence based on questionnaire interview

Area of Science:

• Epidemiology
• Public Health
• Cardiovascular Disease Research

Background:

• Hypertension prevalence estimation is crucial for public health.
• Questionnaire interviews are a common, yet potentially inaccurate, method for data collection.
• On-site measurements provide a more accurate standard for health assessments.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the accuracy of hypertension prevalence data obtained via questionnaire interviews.
• To identify factors influencing the underestimation of hypertension prevalence by questionnaires.
• To compare questionnaire-based prevalence with gold-standard on-site measurements.

Main Methods:

• Utilized baseline data from chronic disease surveys in Changsha (2013-2014).
• Employed multi-stage random sampling for resident selection (ages ≥18).
• Used Bootstrap resampling for robust subgroup prevalence estimates and logistic regression for factor analysis.

Main Results:

• On-site measurements revealed significantly higher hypertension prevalence (1.26-2.31 ratio) than questionnaires.
• Questionnaire sensitivity ranged from 41.76% to 74.83%; specificity was high (98.51%-99.46%).
• Underestimation was more pronounced in younger adults (18-34), males, and those with lower education levels.

Conclusions:

• Questionnaire interviews substantially underestimate hypertension prevalence compared to on-site measurements.
• On-site measurement is recommended as the primary method for epidemiological hypertension surveys.
• Adjustments to questionnaire data are necessary when on-site measurements are not feasible.