title: Study of Prevalence, Awareness,and control of Hypertension in a Suburban Area of Kathmandu, Nepal.
abstract: BACKGROUND, In the context of rapidly raising occurrence of cardiovascular diseases in the developing countries, it becomes imperative to study the scenario in its various aspects. The present study in Nepal deals with the hypertension as it is one of the major risk factors of cardiovascular diseases. METHODS AND RESULTS, A house-to-house survey was conducted in a suburban area of Kathmandu valley from February to June 2005 in adult population (age >/=18 years) to estimate the prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control rates of hypertension. Blood pressure was measured twice using standardized mercury sphygmomanometer, and an average of the two readings was taken. Total number of subjects were 1114 (men:541; women: 573; mean age: 37.8 -/+ 16.3 years). Overall prevalence of hypertension was 19.7% (22.2% in men and 17.3% in women, p < 0.05).Prevalence of hypertension in age group of >/=40 years was 36%.Awareness, treatment, and control rates were 41.1%, 26%, and 6%, respectively. CONCLUSION, Our study indicates that prevalence of hypertension is significant in Nepal and is comparable with other developing countries of this region. Awareness, treatment, and control rates are poor.
authors.affiliation: Shahid Gangalal National Heart Centre, Bansbari, Kathmandu, Nepal.
authors.forename: Deewakar
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.forename: Man
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authors.lastname: Bkc
authors.forename: Sujeeb
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rajbhandari
authors.forename: Roshan
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authors.lastname: Raut
authors.forename: Sajan G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Baidya
authors.forename: Prakash M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Kafle
authors.forename: Bidur
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Baral
authors.forename: Rajib
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rajbhandari
authors.forename: Yadav D
authors.initials: YD
authors.lastname: Bhatt
authors.forename: Rabi
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authors.lastname: Malla
authors.forename: Arun
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authors.lastname: Maskey
authors.forename: Yubraj
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Limbu
authors.forename: Shyam R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Regmi
authors.forename: Bhagwan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Koirala