Hypertension Awareness and Understanding Among High School Students

The purpose of this study was to examine hypertension awareness and understanding among high school students and to understand what factors contribute to high awareness of hypertension, and its related causes and symptoms. Hypertension is a leading cause of death in the United States, not just for the elderly, but also for teenagers. Even more concerning is that 74.9% of high school students with hypertension are unaware of their condition. To accomplish this goal, the author adopted a pre-test post-test quasi-experimental method, as it best suited the objective of the research. This methodology was largely assumed from Anggraini Kurnia, who utilized a pre-test post-test quasi-experimental method in her study, which proved to be highly effective at both assessing a baseline level of understanding, while also testing the validity of a multitude of interventions. Through random sampling, and sample group of 36 students was obtained, and each student was given a survey. After completing the survey, data was collected and analyzed. Through the data analysis, the author drew 2 major conclusions. First, students were greatly unaware of hypertension as students on average scored a mere 6.6/10 on the pre-test. Second, the author found that there existed a strong correlation between initial understanding and a family history of hypertension. In conclusion, although students had a low baseline awareness of hypertension, the informed intervention was ineffective, and other methods must be adopted in the future to discover an effective method for informing high school students about the dangers of hypertension.