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High prevalence and low awareness, treatment and control of hypertension in Asian Indian women

Journal of Human Hypertension volume 26, pages 585–593 (2012)Cite this article

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Abstract

Hypertension is an important public health problem in India. To determine its prevalence, awareness, treatment and control among women, we performed a nationwide study. Population-based studies among women aged 35–70 years were performed in four urban and five rural locations. Stratified sampling was performed and we enrolled 4608 (rural 2604 and urban 2004) of the targeted 8000 (57%). Demographic details, medical history, diet, physical activity, anthropometry and blood pressure (BP) were recorded. Descriptive statistics are reported. Logistic regression was performed to determine the association of hypertension and its awareness, treatment and control with socioeconomic factors. Age-adjusted prevalence of hypertension (known or BP⩾140/⩾90 mm Hg) was observed in 1672 women (39.2%) (rural 746, 31.5%; urban 926, 48.2%). Significant determinants of hypertension were urban location, greater literacy, high dietary fat, low fibre intake, obesity and truncal obesity (P<0.01). Hypertension awareness was noted in 727 women (42.8%), more in urban (529, 56.8%) than in rural (198, 24.6%). Of these, 38.6% of the women were on treatment (urban 35.7, rural 46.5) and of those treated, controlled blood pressure (<140 and <90 mm Hg) was observed in 21.5% (urban 28.3 vs 10.2). Among hypertensive subjects, treatment was noted in 18.3% (rural 13.1, urban 22.5) and control in 3.9% (rural 1.3, urban 5.9). A significant determinant of low awareness, treatment and control was rural location (multivariate-adjusted P<0.05). There is a high prevalence of hypertension in middle-aged Asian Indian women. Very low awareness, treatment and control status are observed.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by ad-hoc research grants from the Science and Society Division, Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, New Delhi, to all the participating centres.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medicine, Fortis Escorts Hospital, Jaipur, India

    R Gupta & A Agrawal

  2. All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India

    R M Pandey, P Misra & N K Vikram

  3. Fortis Rajan Dhall Hospital, New Delhi & National Diabetes, Obesity and Cholesterol Foundation, New Delhi, India

    A Misra

  4. University of Calcutta, Kolkata, India

    S Dey

  5. Agharkar Institute, Pune, India

    S Rao

  6. Amritha Institute of Medical Sciences, Kochi, India

    V U Menon

  7. Gandhigram Rural Institute, Gandhigram, Dindigul, India

    N Kamalamma & K P Vasantha Devi

  8. Pondicherry Science Forum, Pondicherry, India

    K Revathi

  9. Department of Science and Technology, New Delhi, India

    V Sharma

  10. Jaipur Heart Watch Foundation, Jaipur, India

    S Guptha

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Correspondence to R Gupta.

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Gupta, R., Pandey, R., Misra, A. et al. High prevalence and low awareness, treatment and control of hypertension in Asian Indian women. J Hum Hypertens 26, 585–593 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/jhh.2011.79

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