Hypertension in rural communities in Delta State, Nigeria: Prevalence, risk factors and barriers to health care

Abstract

IntroductionHypertension is a global health challenge and its prevalence is increasing rapidly amongst adults in many African countries. Some studies on the prevalence and risk factors of hypertension have been conducted in Nigeria, but none within Delta State. We assessed the prevalence of hypertension and associated risk factors amongst adults in three villages in the Ibusa community in Delta State, Nigeria.MethodHomesteads were randomly selected and all consenting adults (≥ 18 years of age) were recruited for this cross-sectional study (134 individuals: 48 men, 86 women). Sociodemographic data and anthropometric measurements (weight, height and abdominal circumference) were recorded. Diagnosis of hypertension was based on blood pressure ≥ 140/90 mmHg.ResultHypertension prevalence in this rural community was 44%. Results from one village (Ogboli: 82%) and ethnic group (Ibo: 50%) were significantly higher than in others in the same variable category. Multivariate logistic regression analysis suggested increasing age, increasing body mass index and high salt intake as prominent risk factors for hypertension. Lack of funds and equipment shortage in clinics were most often reported as barriers to health care.ConclusionA nutritional education programme to promote low-cholesterol and low-salt diets is recommended to specifically target people in higher-risk areas and of higher-risk ethnicity. Local barriers to accessing health care need to be addressed.

Prevalence of hypertension and associated factors in a rural community in Bayelsa State

“…Onwuchekwa et al, reported a prevalence of 18.3% in Kegbara-Dere in Rivers State, Ofili et al, 44% in Delta State, Isara et al (37.8%) in Edo state and Akpan et al, (44.3%) in Akwa-Ibom. [22][23][24][25] This wide margin may suggest an upsurge in prevalence of hypertension in recent years. It also suggests that rural communities are not left out in this rampaging scourge.…”

Evaluation of antihypertensive adherence and its determinants at primary healthcare facilities in rural South Africa

“…Other factors affecting adherence include unrealistic expectations of treatment such as a cure for their hypertension, depression from being newly diagnosed or knowing that hypertension is not curable, as well as the use of herbal preparations [9,10,12,31]. Unavailability of antihypertensive medicines at PHC facilities, a low level of formal education, and other factors such as the distance to treatment facilities, medication costs, and the availability of professional guidance, are also associated with nonadherence to treatment [7,9,12,16,30,32].…”

Hypertension and associated factors in Atlantic region of Benin in 2015: A community-based study

“…It is also higher than the rates observed in Cameroon and India (Midha et al, 2009;Pancha Mbouemboue et al, 2016). This prevalence is comparable to that observed by Ofili and Adeloye in Nigeria (Adeloye and Basquill, 2014;Ofili et al, 2015).…”

“…In Ethiopia, Kenya, and Uganda, other studies have found hypertension's prevalence of 27.9, 22.8 and 15%, respectively (Joshi et al, 2014;Abebe et al, 2015;Kayima et al, 2015). Factors independently and commonly associated with hypertension are advanced age and overweight or near-constant obesity, high salt intake (Ofili et al, 2015), urban area of residence, sex, age and education level (Okpechi et al, 2013).…”

“…In West Africa, the prevalence of hypertension has been steadily increasing in mid-urban areas since the last decade and varies from one country to another with prevalence rates of 24.8% in Burkina Faso (Soubeiga et al, 2017), 43.6, 38.2 and36.7% in Guinea, Nigeria, andTogo (Iwelunmor et al, 2014), respectively, 27.5% in Senegal (Duboz et al, 2016), and 44 and 31.4% in two Nigeria states (Okpechi et al, 2013;Ofili et al, 2015). In Benin, the available data are mainly related to the 2008 STEPS survey which revealed that the standardized national prevalence of hypertension in adults aged 18 and over was 27.5 and 24.1% for Atlantic region (Ministère de la Santé du Benin, 2008).…”