Prevalence, awareness, treatment and control of high blood pressure in a cohort in Northern Andean Peru

• Main Authors: Giuliana Sanchez-Samaniego (Author), Stella Maria Hartinger (Author), Daniel Mäusezahl (Author), Jan Hattendorf (Author), Günther Fink (Author), Nicole Probst-Hensch (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: Taylor & Francis Group, 2023-12-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.
• Notes: 1654-9880; 10.1080/16549716.2023.2285100
• Keywords: hypertension; awareness; control; high-altitude; andes; Public aspects of medicine; RA1-1270
• Source: Global Health Action, Vol 16, Iss 1 (2023)

Background Gaps exist along the high blood pressure (HBP) diagnosis-treatment-control pathway in high, low and middle-income countries. Objective To determine the prevalence of HBP and to describe the levels of awareness, control and treatment of HBP in the rural Peruvian Andes. Methods This cross-sectional study is embedded into a multigenerational cohort. We analysed data of all adult participants aged ≥ 30 years (n = 2752) who answered a baseline health and lifestyle questionnaire and underwent a physical examination, which included three blood pressure readings. HBP was defined as measured systolic or diastolic blood pressure (BP) ≥140 and/or 90 mm Hg and/or self-reported physician-diagnosed hypertension and/or self-reported antihypertensive intake. The determinants of the prevalence of HBP, unawareness of HBP and uncontrolled HBP were assessed using mixed-effect logistic regressions. Results HBP was present in 18.9% of the participants. Of those with measured HBP, 72.2% were unaware of their HBP. Among those with a diagnosed or medically treated hypertension, 58.4% had uncontrolled HBP. The prevalence of HBP was higher in women (OR: 1.12, CI: 1.02-1.24), increased with age (OR: 1.01, CI: 1.01-1.01) and the presence of family history of hypertension (OR: 1.15, CI: 1.08-1.24), and decreased with healthier lifestyle score (OR: 0.93, CI: 0.91-0.95). Unawareness of HBP was lower among women (OR: 0.56, CI: 0.38-0.83), higher among participants living over 3000 m Above Sea Level (OR: 1.15, CI: 1.03-1.27) and decreased with age (OR: 0.99, CI: 0.98-0.99). Conclusions Unawareness of HBP was high, few HTN patients received treatment and BP remained high in the presence of antihypertensive treatment.