Background: A region-specific (urban and rural parts of north, east, west, and south India) systematic review and meta-analysis of the prevalence, awareness, and control of hypertension among Indian patients have not been done before.
Methods: Medline, Web of Science, and Scopus databases from 1950 to 30 April 2013 were searched for 'prevalence, burden, awareness, and control of blood pressure (BP) or hypertension (≥140 SBP and or ≥90 DBP) among Indian adults' (≥18 years). Of the total 3047 articles, 142 were included.
Results: Overall prevalence for hypertension in India was 29.8% (95% confidence interval: 26.7-33.0). Significant differences in hypertension prevalence were noted between rural and urban parts [27.6% (23.2-32.0) and 33.8% (29.7-37.8); P = 0.05]. Regional estimates for the prevalence of hypertension were as follows: 14.5% (13.3-15.7), 31.7% (30.2-33.3), 18.1% (16.9-19.2), and 21.1% (20.1-22.0) for rural north, east, west, and south India; and 28.8% (26.9-30.8), 34.5% (32.6-36.5), 35.8% (35.2-36.5), and 31.8% (30.4-33.1) for urban north, east, west, and south India, respectively. Overall estimates for the prevalence of awareness, treatment, and control of BP were 25.3% (21.4-29.3), 25.1% (17.0-33.1), and 10.7% (6.5-15.0) for rural Indians; and 42.0% (35.2-48.9), 37.6% (24.0-51.2), and 20.2% (11.6-28.7) for urban Indians.
Conclusion: About 33% urban and 25% rural Indians are hypertensive. Of these, 25% rural and 42% urban Indians are aware of their hypertensive status. Only 25% rural and 38% of urban Indians are being treated for hypertension. One-tenth of rural and one-fifth of urban Indian hypertensive population have their BP under control.