Prevalence, Awareness, Treatment, and Control of Hypertension in the United Arab Emirates: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Akshaya Srikanth Bhagavathula,Elhadi Husein Aburawi,Syed Mahboob Shah

doi:10.3390/ijerph182312693

Akshaya Srikanth Bhagavathula, Elhadi Husein Aburawi + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182312693

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Abstract

Background: Evidence for the prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control of hypertension in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is limited. A systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted to summarize the existing knowledge regarding the prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control of hypertension in the UAE. Methods: We searched PubMed/MEDLINE, Embase, Scopus, and Google Scholar using prespecified medical subject handling (MeSH) terms and text words to identify the relevant published articles from 1 January 1995 to 31 August 2021. Population-based prospective observational studies conducted among healthy adult subjects living in the UAE and that defined hypertension using the guidelines-recommended blood pressure (BP) cut-offs ≥ 130/80 mmHg or ≥ 140/90 mmHg were considered. Results: Of 1038 studies, fifteen cross-sectional studies were included for data extraction involving 139,907 adults with a sample size ranging from 74 to 50,138 and with cases defined as blood pressure ≥ 140/90 mmHg. The pooled prevalence of hypertension was 31% (95% confidence interval (CI): 27–36), and a higher prevalence was observed in Dubai (37%, 95% CI: 28–45) than in the Abu Dhabi region (29%, 95% CI: 24–35) and in multicenter studies (24%, 95% CI: 14–33). The level of awareness was only 29% (95% CI: 17–42), 31% (95% CI: 18–44) for treatment, and 38% (95% CI: 19–57) had controlled BP (< 140/90 mmHg). Conclusion: This study revealed a high prevalence of hypertension with low awareness and suboptimal control of hypertension. Multifaceted approaches that include the systematic measurement of BP, raising awareness, and improving hypertension diagnoses and treatments are needed.

Highlights

Hypertension, or high blood pressure (BP), is one of the most important risk factors and is a leading preventable cause of cerebrovascular, cardiovascular, and renal morbidity and mortality [1]
The observational results indicated that each 10-mmHg increase in systolic blood pressure (SBP) was associated with a 45% higher risk of ischemic heart disease and stroke (65%) in those aged 55–64 years [4]
The study reported that the prevalence of hypertension in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is higher in men (43.9%, 95% confidence interval (CI): 35.4–52.9) than in women (34.5%, 95% CI: 26.9–42.4), and the control was only 18.3% in men, compared to 24.6% in women

Summary

Introduction

Hypertension, or high blood pressure (BP), is one of the most important risk factors and is a leading preventable cause of cerebrovascular, cardiovascular, and renal morbidity and mortality [1]. The observational results indicated that each 10-mmHg increase in systolic blood pressure (SBP) was associated with a 45% higher risk of ischemic heart disease and stroke (65%) in those aged 55–64 years [4]. Several international studies have reported global and regional variations in the prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control of hypertension [5,6,7,8]. A systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted to summarize the existing knowledge regarding the prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control of hypertension in the UAE. Population-based prospective observational studies conducted among healthy adult subjects living in the UAE and that defined hypertension using the guidelines-recommended blood pressure (BP) cut-offs ≥ 130/80 mmHg or ≥ 140/90 mmHg were considered. The level of awareness was only 29% (95% CI: 17–42), 31% (95% CI: 18–44)

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