Diagnosis and Control of Hypertension as Indicators of the Level of Awareness Among Relatives of Medical Students in Saudi Arabia

Hypertension and pre-hypertension in Middle East and North Africa (MENA): A meta-analysis of prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control

Hypertension (HTN) is one of the most important public health challenges, especially in developing countries. Despite individual studies, information on the exact prevalence of prehypertension (pre-HTN) and HTN in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is lacking. This meta-analysis was conducted to evaluate prevalence of pre-HTN and HTN, awareness, treatment, and control in the MENA region. PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus databases were searched from inception to April 30, 2021. Keywords included hypertension, pre-hypertension, awareness, treatment, and control. The quality of the included studies was evaluated using the Hoy scale. A random-effects model was evaluated based on overall HTN. The heterogeneity of the preliminary studies was evaluated using the I² test. A total of 147 studies involving 1,312,244 participants were included in the meta-analysis. Based on the results of the random-effects method (95% CI), the Prevalence of pre-HTN and HTN were 30.6% (95% CI: 25.2, 36.0%; I² = 99.9%), and 26.2% (95% CI: 24.6, 27.9%; I² = 99.8%), respectively. The prevalence of HTN awareness was 51.3% (95% CI: 47.7, 54.8; I² = 99.0%). The prevalence of HTN treatment was 47.0% (95% CI: 34.8, 59.2; I² = 99.9%). The prevalence of HTN control among treated patients was 43.1% (95% CI: 38.3, 47.9; I² = 99.3%). Considering the high prevalence of HTN, very low awareness, and poor HTN control in the region, more attention should be paid to preventive programs for HTN reduction.

Associations between mental health disorder and management of physical chronic conditions in China: a pooled cross-sectional analysis

Physical non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and mental health disorders are a rapidly increasing health burden in low-and middle-income countries. This study aims to examine the relationships between mental health disorders and cascade of care in managing four common physical NCDs (hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, chronic kidney disease) in China. We utilized two waves of nationally-representative China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS 2011, 2015) of older adult population aged 45 and above. A series of unadjusted and adjusted mixed-effect logistic regression was applied to evaluate the association between presence of mental health disorder and physical chronic disease awareness, treatment, and control. We found that the odds of dyslipidemia (AOR 1.81, 95% CI 1.36–2.39) and kidney disease awareness (AOR 2.88, 95% CI 2.12–3.92) were higher for individuals with mental chronic conditions, compared to those without mental chronic conditions. The odds of having hypertension treatment was higher for subjects with mental health disorder, compared to those without (AOR 1.32, 95% CI 1.02–1.70). The odds of having physical chronic conditions controlled was not significantly associated with having mental chronic conditions (P > 0.05). These results indicated that adults with mental health disorder have a greater likelihood of awareness of having dyslipidemia and kidney disease, and receiving treatment for hypertension. Strategies to address the growing burden of physical-mental NCDs in China should include efforts to improve management of patients with comorbid health condition and improve access to continual high-quality treatment after the first diagnosis.

The cascade of care in managing hypertension in the Arab world: a systematic assessment of the evidence on awareness, treatment and control

BACKGROUND

Hypertension is a leading risk factor for mortality and morbidity globally and in the Arab world. We summarize the evidence on awareness, treatment, and control of hypertension, to assess the extent of gaps in the hypertension continuum of care. We also assess the influence of gender and other social determinants at each level of the cascade of care.

METHODS

We searched MEDLINE and SSCI databases for studies published between 2000 and 2017, reporting the rates of awareness, treatment or control of hypertension and/or their determinants in the Arab region. We included sources on both general populations and on clinical populations. The review process was based on the PRISMA guidelines. We present rates on the three stages of the care cascade corresponding to (1) awareness (2) treatment and (3) control of blood pressure, and estimated the losses that occur when moving from one stage to another. We also take stock of the evidence on social determinants and assess the statistical significance of gender differences in awareness, treatment and control.

RESULTS

Data from 73 articles were included. Substantial proportions of hypertensives were lost at each step of the hypertension care continuum, with more missed opportunities for care resulting from lack of awareness of hypertension and from uncontrolled blood pressure. More than 40% and 19% of all hypertensive individuals were found to be unaware and to have uncontrolled blood pressure, respectively, but among individuals diagnosed with hypertension, less than 21% were untreated. Awareness rates were higher among women than men but this advantage was not consistently translated into better blood pressure control rates among women.

CONCLUSIONS

This analysis of the cascade of care indicates that barriers to proper diagnosis and adequate control are greater than barriers to delivery of treatment, and discusses potential factors that may contribute to the gaps in delivery.

Patients with more comorbidities have better detection of chronic conditions, but poorer management and control: findings from six middle-income countries

BACKGROUND

The burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) is rising rapidly in middle-income countries (MICs), where NCDs are often undiagnosed, untreated and uncontrolled. How comorbidity impacts diagnosis, treatment, and control of NCDs is an emerging area of research inquiry and have important clinical implications as highlighted in the recent National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines for treating patients suffering from multiple NCDs. This is the first study to examine the association between increasing numbers of comorbidities with being undiagnosed, untreated, and uncontrolled for NCDs, in 6 large MICs.

METHODS

Cross-sectional analysis of the World Health Organisation Study of Global Ageing and Adult Health (WHO SAGE) Wave 1 (2007-10), which consisted of adults aged ≥18 years from 6 populous MICs, including China, Ghana, India, Mexico, Russia and South Africa (overall n = 41, 557).

RESULTS

A higher number of comorbidities was associated with better odds of diagnosis for hypertension, angina, and arthritis, and higher odds of having treatment for hypertension and angina. However, more comorbidities were associated with increased odds of uncontrolled hypertension, angina, arthritis, and asthma. Comorbidity with concordant conditions was associated with improved diagnosis and treatment of hypertension and angina.

CONCLUSION

Patients with more comorbidities have better diagnosis of chronic conditions, but this does not translate into better management and control of these conditions. Patients with multiple NCDs are high users of health services and are at an increased risk of adverse health outcomes. Hence, improving their access to care is a priority for healthcare systems.