Knowledge, awareness, behavior (KAB) and control of hypertension among urban elderly in Western China
Introduction
The prevalence of hypertension (HTN) in China is witnessing an ascending trend since 1992. From 1992 to 1994 the prevalence rate was at 22.7%, and in 1998 the prevalence rate reached to 24.0% [1]. In 2001, it was reported that the prevalence of HTN among adults (aging 35 to 74 years) has increased to 27.4% (48.8% among people older than 65 years, a much higher prevalence) [2].
Several studies have had analyzed many factors involved in controlling HTN [3], [4], [5], [6], among them the elderly people, considered as one of the most important predisposing factor leading to uncontrolled HTN [3], [5]. It is shown that patients' knowledge, awareness, and behavior/practice (KAB/KAP) are critical in controlling HTN [4], [6], [7].
To get the periodic information about HTN, we carried out the 2006 survey. In this survey we examined the KAB situation and other influential factors responsible for the control of HTN among urban elderly population in Xi'ning and Chengdu city, Western China, sponsored by the UHPP project (China/UK Urban Health and Poverty Project).
Section snippets
Study subjects
Chengdu and Xi'ning are two large cities located in Western China. In Chengdu, there are about 10 million residents, 9 districts and 10 counties, among which 5 districts are in the city center; Xi'ning covers 5 urban districts and 3 counties inhabiting about 1.7 million residents. The cross-sectional study with a 2-stage sampling method contained elderly participants (≥ 60 years old) chosen from an urban population. Firstly, 2 communities in each urban district were sampled — a community (Jie
Prevalence and control of HTN
A total of 2009 cases of HTN were diagnosed in this survey, and the prevalence of HTN reached to 48.5% among total participants, 48.4% were men and 48.6% women, and increased with advancing age (see Fig. 2).
Blood pressure was controlled in 32.1% of all hypertensive participants and in 48.2% of all those received treatment (including medical treatment and/or lifestyle change). The control rate of hypertension in men reached to 33.5%, while the control rate of hypertension in women attained 31.3%
Discussion
This study provides an up-to-date information on factors contributing to the control of HTN among elderly urban residents located in Western China. The definition of HTN and BP control in our study were similar to those shown in Dongfeng Gu's study [2], and BP measurements were similar to those in other studies [2], [7]. However, in this research paper, the change in lifestyle was considered as one category of treatment, and lifestyle interventions also had influence in controlling BP and
Conclusion
Our study has several important findings for the control of HTN in China. Firstly, it emphasized on the importance of early screening of HTN. BP measurements should be taught at the CHCs; each person suspicious of being hypertensive will be able to measure and become aware of ones own BP situation. Secondly, it suggests that health care delivery systems, especially CHCs and the health education department at the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) should strengthen education, by
Authors' contributions
Xinping Zhang initiated and designed the study. She was in charge of the questionnaire's construction, sampling method design, field survey implementation and paper revision. Minmin Zhu participated in the design of the study. He also performed the statistical analysis and wrote the original draft. Hassan H. Dib did the final paper revision and restructuring, and editing and proof reading of the manuscript. Jian Hu participated in the questionnaire construction and assembly of data. Shengchun
Acknowledgements
This study was funded by the UHPP project (China/UK Urban Health and Poverty Project).
Many thanks to the assistance received from the department of health administration of Xi'ning, Qinghai province, and Wuhou district, Chengdu, Sichuan province, in the process of data collection. We wish to particularly acknowledge the contributions of the community health service centers of the two cities, and their staffs.
We also thank Ping Li, Naigeng Zhu, Liying Wang, Wenbin Liu, Chuan-mei You, Ruihua Fen,
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