Reliability and Validity of BRFSS Questions on High Blood Pressure

Emory University Prevention Research Center

Topics:
Cardiovascular Health | Nutrition and Physical Activity for Adults

This study tests the reliability and validity of 10 questions about blood pressure that were added to the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System in 2005. The questions seek to determine if respondents have received a diagnosis of high blood pressure or hypertension; if they are changing behaviors such as eating habits, sodium intake, alcohol use, and exercise to control their blood pressure; and if they have ever been advised by a doctor to change those behaviors or take medication to control blood pressure.

Researchers are administering the survey questions to a random sample of 3,000 people with hypertension who are enrolled in a Kaiser Permanente Georgia medical insurance plan. The survey results are being linked with clinical data so that researchers can assess the correlation between the respondents’ answers about self-management practices, receipt of physician advice, and actual blood pressure levels. Researchers are also assessing whether the correlations differ by patients’ race, gender, or age.

In the second year of the study, half the patients will be surveyed again so that researchers can check the test-retest reliability of the question regarding receipt of physician advice—to see whether time makes a difference in a patient’s recollection. They will also explore the feasibility of checking whether patients’ recollection of physician advice matches physicians’ written records of that advice.

 

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