Decoding the Hypertension Care Cascade and Unlocking Influential Factors Among Indian Adolescents: Evidence from Nationally representative Cross-sectional survey

Abstract

Adolescent hypertension in India is an emergent public health concern due to a combination of increasing obesity, poor nutrition, sedentary lifestyles, and genetics with lack of programmatic focus on regular screening secondary to reduced perceived risk, both amongst individuals and healthcare providers. This study aims assess the hypertension care cascade and their determinants among older adolescents in India. We used data from the demographic and health surveillance (DHS) comprising India’s National Family Health Survey Fifth Round (2019–2021). The hypertension prevalence, proportions of aware, on treatment, and under control among adolescents in the age group of 15–19 years were reported, along with (95% CI) and statistically significance (p < 0.05). The prevalence of hypertension among 204054 older adolescents (15–19 years) was 5.08% (95% CI: 4.94–5.23%) wherein 42.26% (95% CI: 40.69–43.64%) were aware of their condition while 43.70% (95% CI: 41.73–45.70%) of those aware were receiving treatment, and 85.88% (95% CI: 83.83–87.71%) of those achieved blood pressure control. Overall, there were nearly 60% newly diagnosed hypertension cases detected on screening. In conclusion, nearly five in every hundred older adolescents in India are clinically hypertensive with significantly higher odds linked with obesity and male gender. Awareness and utilization of antihypertensive treatment was lower than the classical rule of halves signifying deficiencies in hypertension screening and management strategies for older adolescents within existing public health policy.