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Prevalence, risk factors and awareness of hypertension in India: a systematic review

Abstract

Indians have high rates of cardiovascular disease. Hypertension (HTN) is an important modifiable risk factor. There are no comprehensive reviews or a nationally representative study of the burden, treatments and outcomes of HTN in India. A systematic review was conducted to study the trends in prevalence, risk factors and awareness of HTN in India. We searched MEDLINE from January 1969 to July 2011 using prespecified medical subject heading (MeSH) terms. Of 3372 studies, 206 were included for data extraction and 174 were observational studies. Prevalence was reported in 48 studies with sample size varying from 206 to 167 331. A significant positive trend (P<0.0001) was observed over time in prevalence of HTN by region and gender. Awareness and control of HTN (11 studies) ranged from 20 to 54% and 7.5 to 25%, respectively. Increasing age, body mass index, smoking, diabetes and extra salt intake were common risk factors. In conclusion, from this systematic review, we record an increasing trend in prevalence of HTN in India by region and gender. The awareness of HTN in India is low with suboptimal control rates. There are few long-term studies to assess outcomes. Good quality long-term studies will help to understand HTN better and implement effective prevention and management programs.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the contribution of Ms Puneet Kaur and Ms Nidhi Rai, from the Division of Clinical Trials, St John’s Research Institute for their assistance in literature search and data extraction. We also thank Mrs Nisha George and Mrs Seena Thomas, statisticians at St John’s Research Institute, Bangalore for their contributions. This work was supported by an unrestricted educational grant from AstraZeneca, India.

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Correspondence to D Xavier.

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Drs Xavier, Pais and Sigamani have received research funds from AstraZeneca, India. Dr Pais has received consultancy fees from AstraZeneca. All the three of them received these funds in to the Institution (St John’s) account. Remaining authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Devi, P., Rao, M., Sigamani, A. et al. Prevalence, risk factors and awareness of hypertension in India: a systematic review. J Hum Hypertens 27, 281–287 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/jhh.2012.33

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