Open AccessPsychological Distress and the Development of Hypertension Over 5 Years in Black South Africans
Author(s) -
Schutte Aletta E.,
Ware Lisa J.,
Huisman Hugo W.,
Fourie Carla M.T.,
Greeff Minrie,
Khumalo Tumi,
Wissing Marie P.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
the journal of clinical hypertension
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.909
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1751-7176
pISSN - 1524-6175
DOI - 10.1111/jch.12455
Subject(s) - medicine , blood pressure , psychological distress , distress , alcohol intake , hazard ratio , alcohol , psychiatry , mental health , clinical psychology , confidence interval , biochemistry , chemistry
Alarming increases in the incidence of hypertension in many low‐ and middle‐income countries are related to alcohol overuse. It is unclear whether alcohol overuse is a symptom of psychological distress. The authors assessed psychological distress in Africans and its relationship with a 5‐year change in blood pressure ( BP ), independent of alcohol intake. The authors followed 107 Africans with optimal BP (≤120/80 mm Hg) (aged 35–75 years) over 5 years. Alcohol intake (self‐report and serum γ‐glutamyl transferase) and nonspecific psychological distress (Kessler Screening Scale for Psychological Distress [K6]) were assessed. The K6 predicted hypertension development ( P =.019), and its individual component “nervous” increased a participant's risk two‐fold to become hypertensive (hazard ratio, 2.00 [1.23–3.26]). By entering K6 and γ‐glutamyl transferase into multivariable‐adjusted regression models for change in systolic BP , both were independently associated with change in systolic BP . Psychological distress and scoring high on being nervous predicted the development of hypertension over 5 years, independent of alcohol intake.