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 is lacking. This meta-analysis was conducted to evaluate prevalence of pre-HTN and HTN, awareness, treatment, and control in the Middle East and North Africa 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 I-2 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%; I-2 = 99.9%), and 26.2% (95% CI: 24.6, 27.9%; I-2 = 99.8%), respectively. The prevalence of HTN awareness was 51.3% (95% CI: 47.7, 54.8; I-2 = 99.0%). The prevalence of HTN treatment was 47.0% (95% CI: 34.8, 59.2; I-2 = 99.9%). The prevalence of HTN control among treated patients was 43.1% (95% CI: 38.3, 47.9; I-2 = 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.