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Prevalence, awareness, treatment and control of hypertension in a rural Nicaraguan sample

Journal of Human Hypertension volume 21, pages 815–817 (2007)Cite this article

The prevalence, awareness, treatment and control of hypertension were assessed in 1303 persons who attended a free vision care clinic in rural Nicaragua. The prevalence of hypertension was 37.8% in men and 43.2% in women. Hypertension was found to be a highly prevalent disease in this group, and presumably in the local population, with low levels of awareness and control.

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in both men and women in Nicaragua.1 Hypertension is a major contributor to cardiovascular disease, and the successful management of hypertension requires a preventive health-care approach to disease with frequent health-care visits and a commitment to long-term medication use. However, there are many barriers to this type of health care in Nicaragua. Widespread poverty, low education levels and inadequate health-care accessibility are continuing issues in Nicaraguan health care. Previous studies have found the prevalence of hypertension in other Latin American communities and countries to be approximately 20–40%, as shown in Table 1.2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 This study is the first in English to assess the prevalence, awareness, treatment and control of hypertension in a Nicaraguan sample, providing data for the development of effective hypertension programmes targeted to this group.

Table 1 Prevalence, awareness, treatment and control of hypertension in recent studies
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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Farmington, CT, USA

    N A Blondin

  2. Department of Community Medicine and Health Care, Community-Based Education Program, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, CT, USA

    J Lewis

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  1. N A Blondin
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  2. J Lewis
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Correspondence to N A Blondin.

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Blondin, N., Lewis, J. Prevalence, awareness, treatment and control of hypertension in a rural Nicaraguan sample. J Hum Hypertens 21, 815–817 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.jhh.1002225

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