Assessment of Hypertension-Induced Deaths in Ghana: A Nation-Wide Study from 2012 to 2016

David Adedia,Kwabena O Duedu,Yeboah Boateng,Lotsi Anani,Livingstone Asem,Salifu Nanga,Simon Kojo Appiah

doi:10.4236/jdaip.2020.83009

Abstract

Globally, hypertension is one of the leading causes of death. It can potentially lead to heart disease and stroke, among others, that could result to premature death. In Ghana, hypertension is considered as a disease that contributes to an increase in outpatients’ attendance. To assess the trend differentials of hypertension-induced deaths in Ghana, Chi-square test for equal proportions and Marascuilo procedure for pairwise comparison were performed using surveillance data on reported number of deaths from 2012 to 2016 across the then ten regions. The results show that incidence of hypertension-induced mortality was significantly different for almost all the regions and over the years. The incidence of hypertension-induced mortality has significantly reduced from 2012 to 2016. However, Volta Region recorded the highest incidence of mortality cases (p-value less of 0.0001) than the other regions during the period under review, while the Upper East Region recorded continuous increase in incidence of mortality cases with the highest in 2016. The Eastern Region, Central Region, and Greater Accra Region recorded significantly (p-value less of 0.0001) higher incidence of hypertension-induced mortality than the Ashanti Region, Brong Ahafo Region, Northern Region, Western Region and Upper West Region. The Upper West Region and Western Region had the lowest incidence of mortality. The decline in trend of hypertension-induced mortality could be attributed to some healthcare interventions put in place during the period. One of these interventions was the introduction of health insurance in 2003, a development which has been shown to affect the health seeking behaviors of the people. It is, therefore, important to investigate factors affecting these spatial and temporal dynamics in order to determine appropriate ways to actively control the hypertension-induced deaths in the country. Public education on health should be intensified so as to totally curb hypertension and its attendant risks.

Highlights

Across the world, hypertension is said to be responsible for over 7.5 million deaths annually, which is about 12.8% of the total number of all deaths [1]
The results show that incidence of hypertension-induced mortality was significantly different for almost all the regions and over the years
In Brazil, for instance, [7] reported that the main cause of mortality in that country was hypertension, as well as diabetes. These studies explained that deaths occurring in Brazil as a result of diabetes were due to the many risk factors associated with hypertension

Summary

Introduction

Hypertension is said to be responsible for over 7.5 million deaths annually, which is about 12.8% of the total number of all deaths [1]. As a matter of fact, hypertension is highly ranked among the top ten causes of mortality [6]. This is the situation elsewhere in the world. In Brazil, for instance, [7] reported that the main cause of mortality in that country was hypertension, as well as diabetes. These studies explained that deaths occurring in Brazil as a result of diabetes were due to the many risk factors associated with hypertension. The predisposing factors of hypertension were high, leading to the high hypertension-induced mortality

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion