Survey of prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control of hypertension among Chinese governmental and institutional employees in Beijing.
BACKGROUND
Few studies have been done on the effects that awareness, treatment, and control have on hypertension among governmental and institutional employees.


OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to explore prevalence, awareness, treatment and control of hypertension among governmental and institutional employees.


METHODS
A total of 80 governmental organizations and institutions were selected with a 2-stage clustering sampling method in Beijing and all employees in the selected institutions were considered our study subjects. The survey questionnaires included demographic characteristics; medical, personal, and family health history; lifestyle information; and sources of blood pressure knowledge.


RESULTS
The ages of 30 682 subjects ranged from 18 to 65 years and averaged 40.3 +/- 11.4 years. The proportion of males was 54.4% (16 702 subjects). A total of 9216 subjects were diagnosed hypertensive and the prevalence rate was 30.0%. Among hypertensive patients, 5399 subjects were aware of being hypertensive and the awareness rate was 58.6%. Although 51.7% of hypertensive subjects were taking antihypertensive medications, only 2371 subjects had their blood pressure under control (<140/90 mm Hg) and the control rate was 25.7%. Only 4915 subjects (16.0%) monitored their own blood pressure regularly. Health publications (50.6%) and families/friends (49.1%) were the main sources of hypertension knowledge. Female hypertensive subjects have more effectively controlled blood pressure than their male counterparts. Subjects with a bachelor's degree or higher had a lower awareness rate and treatment rate, but a higher control rate.


CONCLUSIONS
The percentage of hypertensive subjects who are aware, treated, and controlled are unacceptably low among Chinese governmental and institutional employees. Regular medical check-ups and measuring of blood pressure are necessary to improve awareness, treatment, and control of hypertension.
Xu
Tao
T
Cardiovascular Institute and Fuwai Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.
Wang
Yang
Y
Li
Wei
W
Chen
Wei-Wei
WW
Zhu
Manlu
M
Hu
Bo
B
Chen
Tao
T
Liu
Bing
B
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000959:Antihypertensive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001364:Awareness; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000187:drug effects; D001795:Blood Pressure Determination; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002681:China; D004651:Employment; D035082:Federal Government; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008019:Life Style; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016272:Occupational Health; D016017:Odds Ratio; D015995:Prevalence; D017150:Public Sector; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D000078329:Workforce; D055815:Young Adult
D000959:Antihypertensive Agents