Institutional hypertension control in rural Malaysia: A single center study
Objectives: Hypertension is one of the most important risk factors for Cardiovascular Disease in Malaysia. Population-based hypertension control is extremely poor at only 6% based on the 1996 National Health and Morbidity Survey. It is important to gauge the level of hypertension control in insti...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wolters Kluwer
2008
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://irep.iium.edu.my/5246/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/5246/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/5246/1/J_Hypertens_Abstracts%5B1%5D.pdf |
| Summary: | Objectives: Hypertension is one of the most important risk factors for Cardiovascular
Disease in Malaysia. Population-based hypertension control is
extremely poor at only 6% based on the 1996 National Health and Morbidity
Survey. It is important to gauge the level of hypertension control in institutional
follow-up as it has important ramifications on the delivery of service
amongst healthcare professionals in Malaysia. Methods: Three hundred and
thirty one consecutive patients presenting with hypertension to the Medical
Outpatients clinic of Hospital Tengku Ampuan Afzan, Kuantan, Malaysia
were enrolled into a prospective observational study. Blood pressure readings
were taken with manual sphygmomanometers. A review of the medications
and co-morbidities was then undertaken. Results: The majority of patients
were male 64.65%, with a mean age of 60.1±11.0 years. The mean systolic
blood pressure (SBP) was 139.3±21.0 mmHg and the diastolic blood pressure
(DBP) was 81.6±10.4 mmHg. 64.9% of patients had blood pressures (BP)
within the 140/90 mmHg target. The mean blood pressure in this group
was 127.1±11.5/77.8±7.7 mmHg. The majority of patients were on either 2
(46.5%) or 3 (25.9%) anti-hypertensives. Females had a significantly higher
SBP 144.0±22.5 vs 136.8±19.7 mmHg (p=0.004, Independent t test). SBP
was also found to be mildly correlated with gender (r = 0.16, p = 0.003), age
(r = 0.11, p = 0.04) and hyperlipidaemia (r = 0.10, p = 0.05). Conclusion: The
level of hypertension control is certainly equivalent if not better than western
centers. It proves that the level hypertension control in tertiary institutions is
far superior to that of population-based centers. This could be attributed to
the availability of both a highly trained staff, greater surveillance and better
medications. |
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