THE ROLE OF STUDENT VOLUNTEERS IN DOOR-TO-DOOR HYPERTENSION SCREENING

This study was part of a continuing effort to develop a community-based approach to health care. Student volunteers in seventh- and ninth-grade health classes were trained to take blood pressure measurements and then conduct door-to-door screening for hypertension. One group of student volunteers within each grade level screened households surrounding the school they attended (low-convenience condition), while another group of volunteers screened households adjacent to their own homes (high-convenience condition). The results from these screening methods were compared with the results obtained from a central-site neighborhood screening center. Chisquare tests on the proportion of households screened indicated that the high convenience door-to-door screening method was significantly more effective than either the low-convenience door-to-door method or the central-site screening method. The latter two methods were not statistically different from each other. Both seventh and ninth graders screened significantly more households in the high-convenience condition than in the low-convenience condition. Ninth graders were superior to seventh graders in the high-convenience, but not in the low-convenience, condition.