Study: Social determinants of health contribute to hypertension
Higi, a population health enablement company with a national network of health stations in both urban and rural communities that empower consumers to measure, track and act on their health data, today released a new study highlighting the relationship between key social determinants of health, or SDOH, and the rate of hypertension.
An analysis of 1,299,321 individual survey responses from 1,125 higi stations across the Northeast and Midwest examined the impact of financial status, marital status, exercise habits and their relationship to hypertension under the new American Heart Association Guidelines.
“The data higi is able to securely capture from patients and consumers through our 11,000 health stations nationwide gives unparalleled real-time insight into individuals' health and what may be impacting it,” higi chief medical officer Khan Siddiqui said. “High blood pressure is widely prevalent and impacts a diverse subset of communities, but being able to gather data that shows how consumers and patients’ geographic and social determinants impact their overall health allows healthcare professionals and social services on both the nationwide and local level to better understand health outcomes of their populations.”
The higi analysis also found the following: Not all social determinants have equal impact on hypertension rates with some showing stronger correlation with hypertension rates versus others; single marital status showed a stronger relationship with hypertension rates in female populations, while the opposite was true for lack of regular physical activity with stronger relationship in males; SDOH problem rates showed wide variability across communities, even ones in close proximity to each other, but standard socio-economic information like census income data doesn't always appear to do a good job of predicting SDOH dynamics in communities.
An analysis of 1,299,321 individual survey responses from 1,125 higi stations across the Northeast and Midwest examined the impact of financial status, marital status, exercise habits and their relationship to hypertension under the new American Heart Association Guidelines.
“The data higi is able to securely capture from patients and consumers through our 11,000 health stations nationwide gives unparalleled real-time insight into individuals' health and what may be impacting it,” higi chief medical officer Khan Siddiqui said. “High blood pressure is widely prevalent and impacts a diverse subset of communities, but being able to gather data that shows how consumers and patients’ geographic and social determinants impact their overall health allows healthcare professionals and social services on both the nationwide and local level to better understand health outcomes of their populations.”
The higi analysis also found the following: Not all social determinants have equal impact on hypertension rates with some showing stronger correlation with hypertension rates versus others; single marital status showed a stronger relationship with hypertension rates in female populations, while the opposite was true for lack of regular physical activity with stronger relationship in males; SDOH problem rates showed wide variability across communities, even ones in close proximity to each other, but standard socio-economic information like census income data doesn't always appear to do a good job of predicting SDOH dynamics in communities.