Translation and pilot testing of a measure to assess hypertension self-care activities among Hispanics

ABSTRACTObjective: Hispanics in the US have high rates of uncontrolled hypertension in comparison to non-Hispanic whites. This pilot study reports on the translation of a validated measure, the Hypertension Self-Care Activity Level Effects (H-SCALE), for use with Spanish speakers. The H-SCALE assesses Hispanics’ adherence to lifestyle activities that contribute to primary and secondary risk reduction of high blood pressure.Design: Cross-sectional data were collected from Hispanic primary care patients attending a free health clinic in Charlotte, NC. We performed basic psychometric tests and calculated descriptive statistics to assess adherence rates to recommended hypertension self-care behaviors.Results: Participants were primarily female, under age 50 and had a high-school education or less; 48% were from Mexico. Internal consistency of all H-SCALE subscales was acceptable to good. Most participants were non-smokers (80%) and alcohol abstainers (85%). Participants had low adherence to weight management ...