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Growing research shows psychosocial factors are associated with blood pressure (BP) control among individuals with hypertension. To date, little research has examined multiple psychosocial factors simultaneously to identify distinguishing profiles among individuals with hypertension. The association of psychosocial profiles and BP control remains unknown. To characterize the psychosocial profiles of individuals with hypertension and assess whether they are associated with BP control over 14 years. We included 2,665 MESA participants with prevalent hypertension in 2002-2004. Nine psychosocial variables representing individual, interpersonal, and neighborhood factors were included. BP control was achieved if systolic blood pressure (SBP)  < 140 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) < 9090 mmHg. Latent profile analysis (LPA) revealed an optimal model of three psychosocial profile groups (AIC 121,229; entropy = .88) "Healthy", "Psychosocially Distressed" and "Discriminated Against". Overall, there were no significant differences in systolic and diastolic BP control combined, across the profiles. Participants in the "Discriminated Against" profile group were significantly less likely [OR= 0.60; 95% CI: 0.43, 0.84] to have their DBP < 9090 mmHg as compared to the "Healthy" profile, but this was attenuated with full covariate adjustment. Discrete psychosocial profiles exist among individuals with hypertension but were not associated with BP control after full covariate adjustment., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Hypertensive individuals represent a "vulnerable" population regarding psychological health. While African Americans are disproportionally burdened with hypertension, pathways predicting their psychological health remain understudied. We examine if discrimination is associated with psychological health, through an indirect effect of perceived control within a sample of African American individuals with prevalent hypertension ( n = 990). Discrimination was significantly associated with an increase psychological distress and a decrease in psychological well-being through a reduction in perceived control, supporting Minority Stress Theory. Cardiovascular disease risk factor management implications are discussed.

Background: Progress in achieving maternal health goals and the rates of reductions in deaths from individual conditions have varied over time and across countries. Assessing whether research priorities in maternal health align with the main causes of mortality, and those factors responsible for inequitable health outcomes, such as health system performance, may help direct future research. The study thus investigated whether the research done in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) matched the principal causes of maternal deaths in these settings.Methods: Systematic mapping was done of maternal health interventional research in LMICs from 2000 to 2012. Articles were included on health systems strengthening, health promotion; and on five tracer conditions (haemorrhage, hypertension, malaria, HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs)). Following review of 35,078 titles and abstracts in duplicate, data were extracted from 2292 full-text publications.Results: Over time, the number of publications rose several-fold, especially in 2004-2007, and the range of methods used broadened considerably. More than half the studies were done in sub-Saharan Africa (55.4 %), mostly addressing HIV and malaria. This region had low numbers of publications per hypertension and haemorrhage deaths, though South Asia had even fewer. The proportion of studies set in East Asia Pacific dropped steadily over the period, and in Latin America from 2008 to 2012. By 2008-2012, 39.1 % of articles included health systems components and 30.2 % health promotion. Only 5.4 % of studies assessed maternal STI interventions, diminishing with time. More than a third of haemorrhage research included health systems or health promotion components, double that of HIV research.Conclusion: Several mismatches were noted between research publications, and the burden and causes of maternal deaths. This is especially true for South Asia; haemorrhage and hypertension in sub-Saharan Africa; and for STIs worldwide. The large rise in research outputs and range of methods employed indicates a major expansion in the number of researchers and their skills. This bodes well for maternal health if variations in research priorities across settings and topics are corrected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights from the article: Among kidney donors, it is critical to identify risk factors that impact post-kidney donation outcomes. Office blood pressure (OBP) measurement is not always reliable but 24-h ambulatory BP monitoring (ABPM) can help diagnose HTN and uncover white-coat HTN and masked HTN. Among 279 potential donor candidates without prior HTN, 70 (25.2%) were newly diagnosed with HTN with ABPM.