POOR HYPERTENSION CONTROL AMONG PATIENTS ATTENDING THE KILIMANJARO CHRISTIAN MEDICAL CENTRE, TANZANIA: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

Introduction: Poor hypertension control contributes significantly to the growing burden of Disability Adjusted Life Years. Despite the awareness and availability of interventions, only a small number of patients achieve the desired outcome, and the factors associated with poor control remain unclear. Objective: The study aimed to determine the prevalence and factors associated with poor hypertension control. Methods: We conducted a hospital-based cross-sectional study between June and August 2018. At the medical outpatient clinic, hypertensive patients 18 years and above who gave consent were eligible. An interview schedule was used to collect the general characteristics, followed by blood pressure recording. Poor hypertension control was defined as two consecutive high blood pressure readings of one month apart in patients using antihypertensive. Logistic regression was performed to determine factors associated with poor control. Results: A total of 300 patients were enrolled in this study. More than half (52.0%) of the participants were female and living in rural areas (57.3%). The mean (±SD) age of participants was 64.1 (±12.02) years. More than three quarter (86.7%) of the participants had poor blood pressure control. Factors associated with poor control were; older age (cOR=1.05, 95% CI=1.02-1.08), being unemployed (cOR=3.46, 95% CI=1.30-9.14), and duration on anti-hypertensive (cOR=1.05, 95% CI=1.00-1.11). Conclusion: Eight in every ten hypertensive patients had poor control. The poor control in this population was associated with unemployment, age and duration on anti-hypertensive. The results call for more concerted efforts to address hypertension control.

Duke Scholars

Author James Samwel Ngocho Duke Global Health Institute