title: Evaluation of therapeutic control in a Pakistani population with hypertension.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are increasing at an alarming rate in South Asia. High blood pressure is a modifiable risk factor for CVD. In this study, we evaluated the control of blood pressure and the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors in patients with hypertension.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional study was conducted in 50 primary health care centres throughout Pakistan. Individuals with a documented history of hypertension, receiving pharmacological therapy, were enrolled and evaluated for the control of their blood pressure.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The recommended therapeutic control of hypertension (systolic blood pressure <140 mmHg, diastolic blood pressure <90 mmHg) was seen in only 6.4% of the study participants. Values of both the mean systolic and diastolic blood pressures in all subjects were higher than the desired therapeutic levels (P<0.001). There was a high prevalence in the study population of established but modifiable risk factors of CVD, such as smoking (30.5%), hypercholesterolemia (59.5%) and sedentary lifestyle (43.5%). Lack of therapeutic control of systolic blood pressure was found significantly associated with age, hypercholesterolemia and sedentary lifestyle (P<0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Patients being treated at primary health care centres in Pakistan have inadequate control of high blood pressure. Evidence-based continuous education of primary health care physicians is a necessary intervention for optimizing treatment strategies and achieving better therapeutic control of hypertension in our population.
authors.affiliation: Center for Non-Communicable Diseases, Karachi, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Danish
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Saleheen
authors.forename: Saman K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Hashmi
authors.forename: Moazzam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zaidi
authors.forename: Asif
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rasheed
authors.forename: Muhammed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Murtaza
authors.forename: Adil
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Abbas
authors.forename: Sana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nasim
authors.forename: Mustafa Qadir
authors.initials: MQ
authors.lastname: Hameed
authors.forename: Fahad
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Shuja
authors.forename: Muhammad Jawad
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Sethi
authors.forename: Imad
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Hussain
authors.forename: Kamran
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shahid
authors.forename: Hamza
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Khalid
authors.forename: Usman
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Ahmad
authors.forename: Philippe M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Frossard
authors.forename: Muhammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ishaq
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000209:etiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D010154:Pakistan / Q000453:epidemiology; D011159:Population Surveillance; D011320:Primary Health Care; D012307:Risk Factors