Hypertension control in a community health centre at Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
OBJECTIVE
This study was carried out to determine the degree of control of hypertension and the most commonly used drugs for hypertensive patients attending our community health center.


METHODS
A cross sectional study carried out by randomly examining the case notes of patients attending our primary care clinics.


RESULTS
Case notes of 3747 patients were examined, 2064 (55%) females (mean age 23.76 years) and 1683 (45%) males (mean age 24.63 years). Prevalence of hypertension was 3% (108 patients), 3% (63 patients) and 3% (45 patients) for females and males respectively. Majority of patients 16 (35%) males and 32 (51%) females had blood pressure of 141-160/90-100 mmHg. Seventeen (37%) males and 15 (24%) female patients had blood pressure < 140/90 mm Hg. Among 108 hypertensive patients, 29 (65%) males and 44 (69%) females were on single drug. The most commonly used drugs were ACE inhibitors (35%), calcium channel blockers (17.5%) and beta- blockers (14%).


CONCLUSIONS
This study like some other studies shows that control of hypertension falls short of recommended goals. There is need to adopt a strategy that incorporates health education about life style and proper protocol as this has been found useful in other studies.
Department of Family & Community Medicine, Al-Kharj Military Hospital, Al-Kharj, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
S
S
Siddiqui
D O
DO
Ogbeide
A
A
Karim
I
I
Al-Khalifa
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000959:Antihypertensive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003151:Community Health Centers; D003153:Community Health Services; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000517:prevention & control; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012529:Saudi Arabia
D000959:Antihypertensive Agents