Prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control of hypertension in adult Palestinians: a cross-sectional study

Background Hypertension and its complications are major health problems in the West Bank, occupied Palestinian territory (oPt); the results of preliminary surveys suggest that the prevalence of hypertension might be as high as 24%. The aim in this study was to estimate the prevalence and distribution of hypertension and to ascertain awareness, treatment, and control in the general adult population in the West Bank. Methods In a cross-sectional survey of the West Bank, patients and accompanying individuals older than 25 years (n=2258) were invited for participation in the study and screened for hypertension between May and December, 2011, at six governmental primary health-care clinics in the rural and urban Palestinian communities in the three main governorates (Hebron, Nablus, and Ramallah). During clinic visits, trained research staff administered a standard questionnaire. They gathered information about patients' diagnosis awareness, drug treatment, and demographic characteristics. Trained and certified observers used an American Heart Association protocol to obtain two blood pressure measurements from each participant. Hypertension was defined as a mean systolic blood pressure of at least 140 mm Hg and a diastolic blood pressure of at least 90 mm Hg, or self-reported current treatment for hypertension with an antihypertensive medication. Data were analysed with SPSS (version 18.0). χ2 was used to test for independency of the distribution of individuals with diagnosed and undiagnosed hypertension, and the dependency of the distribution of the individuals with controlled and uncontrolled hypertension. The level of significance was set at p