title: Prevalence of hypertension in Chinese cities: a meta-analysis of published studies.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Hypertension has been recognized as a health concern for developing countries. However, there are no current nationwide surveys on the prevalence of hypertension in China (the latest nationwide survey was ten years ago). The goal of this study was to estimate the pooled prevalence of hypertension in Chinese cities.
  
  
  METHODS
  We systematically reviewed published epidemiologic studies on the prevalence of hypertension in Chinese cities through meta-analysis. We searched for studies published between January 2002 and June 2012 using PubMed and two Chinese electronic publication libraries. The keywords 'hypertension' and 'prevalence' were used. Before pooling prevalence of hypertension, all raw prevalence data was age adjusted to the 2010 China standard population. Prevalence estimates were stratified by sex and geographic area.
  
  
  RESULTS
  27 studies were identified with of a total of 195,027 study participants. The overall pooled prevalence of hypertension was 21.5% (19.4%, 23.6%). Subgroup analyses showed the following results north 25.8% (21.6%, 30.0%), south 20.4% (18.6%, 22.2%); male 22.2% (19.3%, 25.1%), female 19.9% (17.6%, 22.1%); large cities 18.9% (15.7%, 22.1%), medium-sized cities 24.6% (19.9%, 29.4%), small cities 20.6% (17.5%, 23.7%); study years in 2002-2006, 21.9% (18.9%, 24.8%), and study year in 2007-2011, 20.6% (17.3%, 23.9%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Comparing data from several previous national hypertension surveys, the prevalence of hypertension is higher in cities than the Chinese national average. Subgroup studies also found a higher prevalence of hypertension in northern cities and among males. Also, the prevalence of hypertension in medium-sized and small cities is likely to increase faster than in large cities.
authors.affiliation: Zhuhai People's Hospital, Affiliated Zhuhai Hosptal of Jinan University, Zhuhai, Guangdong Province, China. yuquan3562003@yahoo.com.cn
authors.forename: Yu-Quan
authors.initials: YQ
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Wen-Hua
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Mei
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.forename: Xiao-Hui
authors.initials: XH
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Sana Kiani
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Rastegar
authors.forename: Jian-Dong
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Yan
mesh_terms: D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D039781:PubMed; D012737:Sex Factors; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*