Individuals' Experiences of Being Screened for Hypertension in Dental Health Care – “No Big Deal”

BACKGROUND: Hypertension is a common disease globally that accounts for the highest number of lost healthy life years and strongly associated with sequelae such as stroke and myocardial infarction. Early detection of individuals with high blood pressure can be ensured by screening also those who consider themselves “healthy”. Screening has both positive and negative effects where a diagnosis of hypertension can lead to worry about the future. These effects need to be elucidated in order to balance between benefit and harm before screening is introduced. The aim of the study was to describe individuals’ experiences of being screened for hypertension in dental health care. METHODS: Data from individual semi-structured interviews, with twenty participants screened for cardiovascular risk factors in connection with dental examination and aged 55–80 years, were analysed by means of qualitative content analysis. RESULTS: The results describe individuals’ experiences of blood pressure screening in dental health care by means of the following theme: “No big deal” based on two categories: “Convenient way of measuring blood pressure” and “Increased awareness of health”. CONCLUSION: The overall message from the interviews was that having one’s blood pressure measured when visiting the dentist was convenient, easy and “No big deal”. Blood pressure screening did not create any major concerns and contributed to an increased awareness of health.