Hypertension

One of the foremost cardiovascular risk factor for chronic diseases and death is

hypertension (Kilic et al., 2016). It is associated with serious health threats such left ventricular

hypertrophy, vascular atheromatosis, myocardial infarction, nephrosclerosis and eye damage

(Metelska et al., 2011). The Seventh Report of the Joint National Committee on Prevention,

Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure uses the traditional definition of

hypertension as an SBP of 140 mmHg or a DBP of 90 mmHg.

Based on the study conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO), hypertension

affects 45% of the world population, with men having a higher percentage of prevalence than

women until age 35. Insufficient control of blood pressure in the body, together with the

existence of other cardiovascular risk factors, results to increased cardiovascular morbidity and

mortality. (Serrat-Costa et al., 2016). It is one of the most common public health concerns

worldwide. Adults with this condition are expected to reach 1.56 billion by 2025 (Wang et al.,

2016). Some of the risk factors of Hypertension are age, sex, body weight, dietary sodium intake,

stress, genetic factors, cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption.

Hypertension is a significant public health issue. Yet, most people with this health

problem are not aware of their condition. Health literacy or knowledge of the disease of patients

is an important determinant of the outcome of treatment from chronic non-communicable disease

such as hypertension (Ramathebane et al., 2015). Williams et al., (1998) stated that low literacy
rate levels among patients with chronic non-communicable disease such as hypertension is a

major barrier in educating them about their condition and possible medication.

Knowledge of People About Hypertension as a Significant Public Health Issue

Most of the people affected with hypertension are not conscious of their situation. Based

on the study conducted by Ramathebane et al., (2015) in Namibia and Kenya, it was found out

that of those people affected with hypertension only 3% to 6% were aware of their condition.

Moreover, it ranks among the major cause of hospital consults and admissions in Lesotho,

another country in South Africa. In addition, about 75.6% of the hypertensive patients in Lesotho

have uncontrolled hypertension (Thinyane et al., 2015). Another study by Borghi et al. (2016)

showed that even with the declines in rates of mortality from cardiovascular disease (CVD)

throughout Europe, it remains accountable for approximately 47% of all deaths across the

continent annually. The most recent European CVD statistics stated that the occurrence of

elevated blood pressure in people aged 25 years or older ranges between 33.6% (Israel) and

48.3% (Ukraine). In China, 27. 8% of adults were hypertensive, with prevalence higher in men

than in women and increases sharply with rising age. Among Chinese adults, more than one

fourth had hypertension. The levels of awareness of hypertension remain extremely low,

foretelling substantial unnecessary disease burden (Li et al., 2016). In the United States of

America, an estimated 65 million adult or one fourth of adult population are hypertensive.

Another quarter are pre-hypertensive (Systolic Blood Pressure of 120-139 mmHg or a Diastolic

Blood Pressure of 80-89 mmHg).

 Cardiovascular disease, largely due to hypertension, is the leading cause of death in the

Philippines comprising 31% of all deaths (Tan, 2015) and hypertension is a leading cause of

morbidity. According to the Department of Health, one in four adults has high blood pressure. In

2015, the World Health Organization found out that mortality from non-communicable diseases

are progressively increasing and cardiovascular diseases are one of the major causes of deaths in

the country.

Literatures Cited:

Borghi, C., Tubach, F., De Backer, G., Dallongeville, J., Guallar, E., & Medina, J. et al. (2016).
Lack of control of hypertension in primary cardiovascular disease prevention in Europe:
Results from the EURIKA study.

Kilic, M., Uzunakmak, T., & Ede, H. (2016). The effect of knowledge about hypertension on the
control of high blood pressure.

Li, Y., Yang, L., Wang, L., Zhang, M., Huang, Z., & Deng, Q. et al. (2016). Burden of
hypertension in China: A nationally representative survey of 174,621 adults.
International Journal Of Cardiology.

Metelska, J., Nowakowska, E., Kus, K., Kajtowski, P., Czubak, A., & Burda, K. (2011).
Evaluation of the knowledge of primary healthcare patients in Poland on the prevention
of hypertension: A community study. Public Health, 125(9), 616-625.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2011.06.011

Ramathebane, M., Maja, L., Mugomeri, E., Chatanga, P., and Moletsane, L. (2015). Knowledge
of Disease Condition and Medications Among Hypertension Patients in Lesotho. Journal
of the American Society of Hypertension.

Rosendorff, C., Lackland, D., Allison, M., Aronow, W., Black, H., & Blumenthal, R. et al.
(2016). Treatment of hypertension in patients with coronary artery disease.
Serrat-Costa, M., Baltasar Bagu, A., Machado Velasco, R., Juviny Canal, D., Bertran Noguer,
C., & Ricart, W. (2016). Are nurses sufficiently well prepared to take on the detection of
hypertension?

Tan, Gerry. (2015). Diabetes Care in the Philippines. VOL. 81, NO. 6, ISSN 2214-9996

Thinyane KH, Mothebe T, Sooro M, Namole LD, Cooper V. (2015). An observational study of
hypertension treatment and patient outcomes in a primary care setting. Pan African
Medical Journal.;20(424).

Wang, F., Han, L., & Hu, D. (2016). Fasting insulin, insulin resistance and risk of hypertension
in the general population: A meta-analysis.

Williams MV, Baker DW, Parker RM, Nurss JR. (1998). Relationship of functional health
literacy to patients' knowledge of their chronic disease: a study of patients with
hypertension and diabetes. Archives of internal medicine. ;158(2):166-72.

World Health Organization (WHO). (2016). Guidelines for the management of hypertension.
Global Hearth Observatory (GHO); 2016. Retrieved from
http://www.who.int/gho/ncd/riskfactors/ blood pressure prevalence text/en/ [accessed on
December 2016].