Hypertension ( Htn ) Is A Major Public Health Issue...

Hypertension (HTN) is a major public health issue affecting 70 million African-American males in the United States (CDC,2015) and predisposing them to cardiovascular diseases (Scranton, Goldstein, Stecher, 2013). The WHO (2013) defines HTN as a systolic blood pressure of equal or greater than 140 mm/Hg or a diastolic blood pressure of equal or greater than 90 mm/ Hg. In addition, a large portion of patient’s diagnosed with HTN also have a diagnosis of erectile dysfunction (ED), both of which when left untreated can have a negative impact on quality of life. ED has been defined by Adebusoye et al., (2012), the lack of sufficient sexual intercourse due to inability of a penile erection in male. Compounding the high incidence of HTN and ED among African-American males, is the problem of non-adherence to prescribed anti-hypertensive medications. Real or perceived ED associated with the adverse side effects of anti-hypertensive medications is a chief reason for non-adherence t o anti-hypertensive medications among males (Kakkavas et al., 2013). This research study will use The Health Belief Model to investigate the correlation between African-American males with dual diagnoses’ of HTN and ED who are non-adherent to anti-hypertensive medications. More specifically, this study will scrutinize the adverse side effects of anti-hypertensive medications in relation to complications of untreated HTN, one of which is ED. The results of this study could be used to educate