Awareness, treatment and control of hypertension among the elderly living in their home in Tunisia

BMC Cardiovascular Disorders

Research Article

Nadia Koubaa¹  Sounira Mehri¹  Mohamed Hammami¹  Fathi Betbout²  Sonia Hammami³  Mohamed A Frih⁴  Said Hajem⁵  Samy Kammoun⁶ 

[1] Laboratory of Nutrition and Vascular Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Monastir, Tunisia;Laboratory of Nutrition and Vascular Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Monastir, Tunisia;Cardiology Department, University Hospital "F. Bourguiba" Monastir, Tunisia;Laboratory of Nutrition and Vascular Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Monastir, Tunisia;Internal Medicine Department, University Hospital "F. Bourguiba" Monastir, Tunisia;Laboratory of Nutrition and Vascular Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Monastir, Tunisia;Nephrology Department, University Hospital "F. Bourguiba" Monastir, Tunisia;National Institute of Public Health Tunis, Tunisia;Pneumology Department, Geriatric unit, University Hospital H Chaker Sfax, Tunisia;

关键词: Hypertension;    Elderly;    Prevalence;    Awareness;    Tunisia;    Home living;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2261-11-65

 received in 2011-04-21, accepted in 2011-11-01,  发布年份 2011

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundHypertension is a cardiovascular disorder rapidly emerging as a major public health problem in developing countries. However, the acknowledgement of the prevalence and the significant impact of hypertension in elderly are very important for health policy. The objective of the present investigation was to evaluate the prevalence, awareness and treatment of hypertension among the elderly living in their home in Tunisia at Monastir City. We also examined the impact of socio-demographic characteristics and known risk factors for high blood pressure.MethodsA community based sample of 598 non-institutionalized elderly (age ≥ 65 years), was selected using probabilistic multistage cluster sampling.ResultsThere was a predominance of female (66%) and mean age was 72.3 ± 7.4 years. The prevalence of hypertension was 52% (n = 311), awareness (81%, n = 252), treatment (78.4%, n = 244) and only 30.7% (n = 75) are correctly treated. The prevalence of hypertension was higher for the female population (55.5%) when compared to males (45%). No urban/rural differences were observed and no difference was observed by educational level. Multiple logistic regression analyses identified a higher body mass index, diabetes mellitus and disability as important correlates of the prevalence of hypertension.ConclusionThese findings provide important information on the prevalence, awareness and control of hypertension in Monastir City and confirm their association with other cardio-vascular risk factors. Effective public health measures and strategies are needed to improve prevention, diagnosis and access to treatment of this elderly population.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Hammami et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2011