title: The persistence of irregular treatment of hypertension in the former Soviet Union.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Hypertension is one of the leading causes of avoidable mortality in the former Soviet Union (fSU). In previous work, the authors described patterns of irregular hypertension treatment in eight countries of the fSU in 2001. This paper presents new data on changes in the use of hypertension treatment in the same countries.
  
  
  METHODS
  Using household survey data from 18 420 (2001) and 17 914 (2010) respondents from Armenia, Azerbaijan (2010 only), Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia and Ukraine, the authors describe changes in rates of irregular treatment use (less than daily) between 2001 and 2010. Multivariate logistic regression was also used to analyse the characteristics associated with irregular treatment.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Irregular treatment was extremely high at 74% in 2001 and only fell to 68% in 2010 (all countries combined). Irregular treatment remained particularly high in 2010 in Armenia (79%), Kazakhstan (73%) and Moldova (73%). Recurring characteristics associated with irregular treatment included gender (men), younger age, higher fitness levels, and consuming alcohol and tobacco.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Irregular hypertension treatment continues to be a major problem in the countries of the fSU and requires an urgent response.
authors.affiliation: European Centre on Health of Societies in Transition, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK. bayard.roberts@lshtm.ac.uk
authors.forename: Bayard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Roberts
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Stickley
authors.forename: Dina
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Balabanova
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Haerpfer
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: McKee
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000959:Antihypertensive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000639:trends; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014586:USSR / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000959:Antihypertensive Agents