title: Awareness, Treatment, and Control of Hypertension in Primary Health Care and Secondary Referral Medical Outpatient Clinic Settings at Enugu, Southeast Nigeria.
abstract: Essential hypertension is the most common noncommunicable disease (NCD), affecting more than half the adult population in many countries and being the major NCD contributor to the double burden of disease in developing countries. We undertook a survey of the hypertension awareness, treatment, and control in primary and secondary referral health care clinics in Enugu, Nigeria, and compared these data with those obtained in local community surveys. The prevalence of hypertension in the primary care clinic (9.2%) was lower than in a previously reported community survey (42.2%), while, in the referral clinic, 70.3% of patients attending were hypertensive. Hypertension awareness rates were 91.9%, 29.4%, and 93.2% in these respective health care settings. Treatment and control rates (89.9% and 72.9%) were better in the secondary care clinic than in the primary care centre (87.7% and 46.0%). (Chi-square analysis confirmed statistically significant differences between these rates (p< 0.05).) These data may form a useful index of health care system effectiveness in Nigeria. Possible reasons for the differences observed and effective strategies to address the waxing pandemic of hypertension are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology & Therapeutics, University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu, Nigeria.
authors.forename: Chioli
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chijioke
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology & Therapeutics, University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu, Nigeria; Department of Medicine, University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu, Nigeria.
authors.forename: Raphael
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-1097-8729
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Anakwue
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine, University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu, Nigeria.
authors.forename: Teddy
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Okolo
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine, University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu, Nigeria.
authors.forename: Esther
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ekwe
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu, Nigeria.
authors.forename: Chukwuemeka
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Eze
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu, Nigeria.
authors.forename: Charles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Agunyenwa
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu, Nigeria.
authors.forename: Nnamdi
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-1028-242X
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nwosu
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics Surgery, University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu, Nigeria.
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Amah
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology & Therapeutics, University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu, Nigeria.
authors.forename: Kenneth
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nwadike
authors.affiliation: Dietary Intervention Research Group, Chiolive International Medical Research Organisation and University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu, Nigeria; Department of Laboratory Sciences, University of Nigeria, Enugu, Nigeria.
authors.forename: Udunma
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Chijioke