Regional differences in prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control of hypertension among five provinces in southwest China

  Objective  To examine regional differences in the prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control of hypertension among adult residents in five provinces in southwest China and to provide evidences for improving hypertension management in the populations.

  Methods  The selected study sites were 10 urban regions (municipal/prefectural districts) and 20 rural regions (counties) covered by the programme of Screening and Intervention Subjects with High Risk Cardiovascular Diseases in 5 provinces in southwest China. Totally 395 235 residents aged 35 – 75 years in the study sites were surveyed with a questionnaire interview and blood pressure measurement from January 2016 to November 2018. The rates of awareness, prevalence, treatment, and control of hypertension among the residents were analyzed and compared by study sites.

  Results  Among the 394 957 residents with valid information, 159 014 hypertensive patients were identified; the mean age of the hypertensives were 58.8 ± 9.5 years and 40.2% of them were male. For the residents in the 30 study sites, the overall rates of awareness, prevalence, treatment, and control of hypertension were 40.3%, 43.7%, 29.8%, and 9.6%; the medians of the hypertension prevalence, awareness, treatment and control rates 40.4%, 42.6%, 29.9%, and 7.3% and the medians after personal characteristics-based risk-adjustment were 39.2%, 42.2%, 30.0%, and 9.6%, respectively. Significant regional differences in the adjusted medians were observed. The residents in 8 study sites, mainly in Yunnan province and Tibet Autonomous Region, had a higher hypertension prevalence rate than the average level of the 5 provinces; the residents in 10 study sites had lower of hypertension awareness, treatment, and control than those for all the residents in the 5 provinces.

  Conclusion  Obvious regional variations exist in the prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control of hypertension among residents in southwest China, suggesting that targeted measures on hypertension management need to be developed urgently in the region.