Hypertension Prevalence, Awareness, Treatment, Control, and Associated Factors in Adults in Southern China

Background: Hypertension is the most important risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. Little information exists on the status of hypertension among southern Chinese. We therefore investigated the hypertension prevalence, awareness, treatment, control, and associated factors in a southern Chinese population with 85 million residents.

Methods: Stratified multistage cluster sampling with probability proportional to size method was used in this survey. A representative sample of 13,889 residents aged 20 years or above with completed questionnaire and blood pressure (BP) measurement was obtained. BP was measured in accordance with the 1999 World Health Organization/International Society of Hypertension Guidelines. Information related to history of diagnosis and treatment of hypertension was collected through questionnaire.

Results: The prevalence of hypertension in this population was 20.5% (16.5%, 24.4%), which translated to 9.8 million adults suffering from hypertension in Guangdong province. The urban population had higher prevalence of hypertension than the rural population (25.1 vs. 16.1%). The prevalence of awareness, treatment, and control of hypertension in hypertensive patients living in urban regions were 42.8, 37.9, and 13.5%, respectively, which were higher than those in rural regions (the corresponding figures were 17.6, 10.4, and 3.4%, respectively). Nearly 50% urban adults and 80% rural adults did not measure their BP in the last 12 months. Frequency of BP measurement was associated with both awareness and treatment.

Conclusions: Hypertension was prevalent in southern China. The prevalence of awareness, treatment, and control of hypertension is low. Urgent strategies are needed to improve prevention, detection, and treatment of hypertension in this large Chinese population.