Health Social Networks of Black Women With Hypertension.
Lenette M Jones, Jaclynn Hawkins, Jamie Mitchell and 2 others
PMID 37890162WHAT IT FOUND
Black women with hypertension named mostly family and friends in their health networks.
Larger networks were slightly linked to higher systolic blood pressure; no link to diastolic blood pressure.
Key findings
01Participants named a mean of six peers in their health social networks, and most were family members or friends.
02Participants discussed hypertension with 72% of named peers and said 40% of peers were very knowledgeable about hypertension.
03Network size was slightly linked to higher systolic blood pressure, but not to diastolic blood pressure.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The sample was a convenience sample of women at one Midwestern church conference in 2013, so it may not represent all Black women with hypertension and may have been more socially engaged. The study was cross-sectional, so it cannot show whether health social networks influence blood pressure or whether blood pressure influences network size. No data were collected on how often participants interacted with peers, and peers were not surveyed about their own hypertension status or knowledge. Participants named up to seven peers, so larger networks may not be fully captured. The association with systolic blood pressure was small, and the paper did not test whether network size causes higher or lower blood pressure.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The article is listed as supported by NIH extramural research.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that building larger health social networks will lower blood pressure in Black women with hypertension. This was a cross-sectional survey, and it found only a small positive association between network size and systolic blood pressure, with no association with diastolic blood pressure.