Srinagar, Apr 19: A community-based cross-sectional study conducted in the peri-urban area of Aanchar, Soura near Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, has revealed a high prevalence of hypertension and low compliance to prescribed medication.
The study titled Cross-Sectional study on prevalence and socio-demographic correlates of Hypertension in peri-urban community of Kashmir was conducted by Uroosa Farooq Allaqband, Anjum B Fazili, Rohul Jabeen Shah and Javeed Ahmad Parray.
Hypertension, also known as high or raised blood pressure, is a major global public health concern and ranks among the top ten leading causes of death worldwide. Poor compliance with anti-hypertensive therapy is often linked to adverse health outcomes and contributes to the unnecessary burden on already limited healthcare resources.
The study was aimed to assess the prevalence, socio-demographic correlates and treatment compliance of the hypertensive patients This study was conducted in relation to May Measurement Month, an Initiative which was first observed by the International Society of Hypertension in May 2017.
“This area is divided into six Mohallas from which two Mohallas were selected randomly. All households from the selected Mohallas were included in this house-to-house survey,” the study said.
A total of 1076 subjects above the age of 15 years participated in the study. The analysis of data was done using SPSS version 20.00 and standard statistical tests like chi square were applied wherever required.
It said that overall prevalence of high blood pressure was found to be 28.8% in the study population with 82.6% known hypertensives and 17.4% detected with raised BP for the first time. The overall compliance to treatment in known hypertensives was 34.4%.
“A very low treatment compliance level was observed in the study participants which needs redressal by way of mass awareness campaigns, as well as individual counselling for behaviour change communication,” the study said.
The study notes that compliance to any medication is always crucial in control of diseases more specifically for chronic diseases and identifying the factors that determine compliance can have significant impact on treatment outcomes.
It recommended that imparting health education and counselling at the time of visit to health institutions by the patient and during home visits by health workers can improve the compliance level which is vital for control of hypertension.
“Strategies included may involve patient education, enhanced communication with the patient focused towards behavioral change. Awareness generation regarding the perceived susceptibility and severity of the disease, besides the benefits of the lifestyle modification and timely treatment will help a long way in adopting a healthy lifestyle and compliance to treatment,” the study added.
