Prevalence, awareness, treatment and control of hypertension in rural areas in North China in 2013

Abstract

To investigate the percentages of awareness, treatment and control and the prevalence of hypertension in north rural China. An epidemiological study was conducted by stratified cluster random sampling in March 2013 within 4 out of 20 regions in north China. At least 1 250 residents aged over 35 years were recruited and there were 625 males and 625 females from 4 villages randomly selected from each region. The risk factors for hypertension such as blood pressure (BP), height, weight and past history of illness were collected.From 4 575 valid samples, there were 2 062 males and 2 513 females.Hypertension was defined as any subject with mean systolic blood pressure ≥ 140 mmHg, diastolic blood pressure ≥ 90 mmHg or use of antihypertensive medication. All the relevant rates were standardized by gender and age group according to the figures of Third National Population Census. The standardized rates of hypertension in population aged over 35 years were 41.2% in Shunyi District, Beijing, 26.0% in Yuzhong County, Gansu Province, 25.2% in Jingyu County, Jilin Province and 22.8% in Dongfeng County, Jilin Province respectively. And significant differences existed among different regions (P < 0.001). The prevalence of hypertension in males was higher than that in females. The overall rates of awareness, treatment, control and control under treatment were 46.9%, 30.5%, 12.8% and 41.5% respectively in males versus 64.2%, 48.9%, 20.4% and 38.4% respectively in females. These rates were significantly higher in people with a family history of hypertension than those without one (P < 0.05). The prevalence of hypertension and the rates of awareness, treatment increased with the increase of BMI (P < 0.05) other than the rates of control and control with drugs. The prevalence of hypertension was of great difference between different rural areas in north China. The rates of awareness, treatment and control have remained at a low level.