SOCIAL REPRESENTATIONS OF HYPERTENSIVESOCIAL ABOUT ARTERIAL HYPERTENSION

This study aimed to analyze the social representations of hypertensive patients about systemic arterial hypertension. This is a field research with a qualitative approach, based on the Theory of Social Representations by Serge Moscovici (1961), based on the structural approach of Jean-Claude Abric (1976). The study setting was in two cities in the north of Minas Gerais, questions and word recall test. These evocations were analyzed through structural analysis and presented in a four-place frame, built with the aid of the Ensemble de Programs Permettantl’ Analysedes Evocations (EVOC®) software, version 2005. For this construction, the Middle Order of Evocations was considered( OME), that is, the rang equal to 2.20 while the intermediate frequency was set at 21 and the minimum at 13 . To study the discourse from the open questions, the content analysis technique proposed by Bardin (2011) was used. It is concluded that hypertensive individuals also believe that anxiety can trigger an increase in their BP pressure levels. Non-pharmacological practices are less mentioned, however, they portray that if patients have healthy lifestyle habits in their daily lives, their BP levels will be controlled.