Hypertension Awareness, Treatment, Control and Prevalence in Zanjan Province, Iran

Background- Hypertension is a frequent and treatable risk factor for cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, renal and peripheral arterial disease. There are simple criteria for its diagnosis and no expensive equipment is needed. This article aims to determine how many hypertensive subjects are aware of their disease, how many of them actually treat it, what they utilize to treat it, and finally how many complete treatments successfully. Method- A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted on 1000 people in Zanjan Province in 2007. Random stratified cluster sampling based on postal code was used to enroll people aged between 15 to 67 years old. Their blood pressures were measured three times by automated device in the sitting position from the right arm at home. Hypertension was defined as recorded blood pressure above 140/90mmHg or taking anti-hypertensive medications. Results- Two hundred seventy-eight (27.8%) hypertensive patients were detected in our sample. The prevalence of hypertension after age adjustment was 18.7% (95% CI, 16.1% - 21.3%) in Zanjan. Only 101 (36.3%) patients were aware of their disease, 38 (13.6%) of all hypertensives took medication, and the blood pressures of only 6 (2.1%) of all hypertensives were controlled. 70 (25.1%) used non-pharmacologic treatment and 27 (9.7%) used traditional medications. Conclusion- The potential for both better detection and treatment would appear to be huge in our region. Implementation of health care systems for this purpose is needed.