title: Prevalence of hypertension in rural areas of china: a meta-analysis of published studies.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Hypertension is one of the leading causes of disease burden across the world. In China, the latest nationwide survey of prevalence of hypertension was ten year ago, and data in rural areas is little known. More information about hypertension prevalence could help to improve overall antihypertensive health care. We aimed to estimate the pooled prevalence of hypertension in rural areas of China.
  
  
  METHODS
  Comprehensive electronic searches of PubMed, Web of Knowledge, Chinese Web of Knowledge, Wangfang, Weipu and SinoMed databases were conducted to identify any study in each database published from January 1, 2004 to December 31, 2013, reporting the prevalence of hypertension in Chinese rural areas. Prevalence estimates were stratified by age, area, sex, publication year, and sample size. All statistical calculations were made using the Stata Version 11.0 (College Station, Texas) and Statsdirect Version 2.7.9.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We identified 124 studies with a total population of 3,735,534 in the present meta-analysis. Among people aged 18 years old in Chinese rural areas, the summarized prevalence is 22.81% (19.41%-26.41%). Subgroup analysis shows the following results: for male 24.46% (21.19%-27.89%, for female 22.17% (18.25%-26.35%). For 2004-2006: 18.94% (14.41%-23.94%), for 2007-2009, 21.24% (15.98%-27.01%) for 2010-2013: 26.68%, (20.79%-33.02%). For Northern region 25.76% (22.36%-29.32%), for Southern region 19.30%, (15.48%-24.08%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The last decade witnessed the growth in prevalence of hypertension in rural areas of China compared with the fourth national investigation, which has climbed the same level as the urban area. Guidelines for screening and treatment of hypertension in rural areas need to be given enough attention.
authors.affiliation: Xiangya Nursing School, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan Province, China; Nursing Department, The Third Affiliated Hostipal Of Southern Medical Universtiy, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China.
authors.forename: Xiaofang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan Province, China.
authors.forename: Lezhi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, the Third Affiliated Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China.
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan Province, China.
authors.forename: Zhanzhan
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002681:China; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*