Magnitude of undiagnosed and inadequately treated hypertension among stroke patients at the teaching hospital in Ethiopia

Abstract

Background Globally, increased blood pressure accounts for almost two-thirds of strokes, with the majority of them caused by undiagnosed, untreated, or insufficiently managed hypertension. Undiagnosed hypertension is frequent in Ethiopia, however, its magnitude among stroke remains investigated. We aimed to determine the magnitude of undiagnosed and inadequately treated Hypertension among Stroke patients in Yekatit 12 Hospital Medical College. Methods This is an institutional cross-sectional study using hospitalized stroke patients' medical data from February 1, 2021, to August 6, 2023. Data was collected using a standardized abstraction sheet using the Kobo collect tool. We analyzed data using SPSS version 20. Descriptive statistical analysis was used to analyze most of the data at 95% CI. Result W included a total of 523 stroke patients a mean age (SD) was 61.34 ± 16.82 years and nearly half, 263 (50.3%) were males. More than two-thirds, 344 (65.8%) of the patients had ischemic stroke and 156 (29.8%) had an intra-cerebral hemorrhage. The prevalence of undiagnosed hypertension was 79 (15.1%). Nearly half, 271(51.2%) had a hypertension history with 33.6% of them having poor adherence to their medication and 24.4% didn’t start anti-hypertensive medication. In-hospital mortality in this study was 90 (17.2%). Being male was found independently associated with undiagnosed hypertension among stroke patients (AOR,1.72 (1.05,2.82), P = 0.03) Conclusions Inadequately treated and undiagnosed hypertension is found high among stroke patients. This indicates an urgent need to screen and promptly diagnose hypertension and educate undiagnosed and poorly controlled hypertensive patients with an emphasis on follow-up and adherence to antihypertensive medications.