Prevalence, awareness, treatment, and risk factors associated with hypertension in the Iranian population: the national survey of risk factors for noncommunicable diseases of Iran.
BACKGROUND
The prevalence of hypertension in the Middle East is not well defined. We examined the prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control of hypertension in Iran.


METHODS
The Survey of Risk Factors of Noncommunicable Diseases was conducted in 2005 and contains a representative sample of the Iranian adult population. Of 70,981 participants, the data of 68,250 adults aged 25-64 years who had two valid blood pressure (BP) readings were analyzed to estimate the total prevalence of hypertension (systolic BP >or= 140 mm Hg, diastolic BP >or= 90 mm Hg, or the concurrent use of antihypertensive agents) in the Iranian adult population.


RESULTS
Approximately 25% or 6.6 million Iranians aged 25-64 years had hypertension; additionally 46% or 12 million Iranians aged 25-64 years had prehypertension. Among hypertensive patients, 34% were aware of their elevated BP; 25% were taking antihypertensive medications; and of these treated subjects, only 24% had BP values <140/90 mm Hg. Hypertension and prehypertension were associated with age, male gender, obesity, central obesity, hypercholesterolemia, and diabetes.


CONCLUSIONS
The prevalence of hypertension and prehypertension is high, and the rates of awareness, treatment, and control are unacceptably low. These results underscore the urgent need to develop national strategies to improve prevention, detection, and treatment of hypertension in Iran.
Esteghamati
Alireza
A
Endocrine Research Center, Valiasr Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Estegamati@tums.ac.ir
Abbasi
Mehrshad
M
Alikhani
Siamak
S
Gouya
Mohamad M
MM
Delavari
Alireza
A
Shishehbor
Mehdi H
MH
Forouzanfar
Mehrdad
M
Hodjatzadeh
Alieh
A
Ramezani
Rashid D
RD
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology*; D007492:Iran / Q000453:epidemiology; D019359:Knowledge; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors