Trends in population blood pressure and prevalence, awareness, treatment and control of hypertension among older persons: The 2006 & 2015 National Health and Morbidity Survey in Malaysia

Abstract

Background Hypertension is one of the most important risk factors for cardiovascular diseases. Thus, it is an important public health challenge worldwide. In Malaysia, only a few studies have focused on the trends of hypertension specifically for the aging population. In view of the rapid growth of the elderly population in Malaysia, there is an urgent need to explore the condition of hypertension in this aging population. Hence, the objectives of this study were to determine the trends of population mean systolic and diastolic blood pressure (BP) levels, the prevalence, awareness, treatment and control of hypertension, and its' associated factors among older persons in two cross-sectional national surveys that were conducted in 2006 and 2015 in Malaysia. Methods This was a subanalysis of secondary data collected from the two cross-sectional national population-based surveys conducted in Malaysia in 2006 and 2015. Adults aged 60 and older who had participated in these two surveys were included in the study.

National trends in prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control of hypertension among adults in Mongolia from 4 cross-sectional surveys in 2005, 2009, 2013, and 2019

“…Like in our study, among older adults in Malaysia, the prevalence of hypertension decreased significantly. [17] Possible reasons for the decrease in hypertension in Mongolia can be attributed to better control of hypertension, a decrease in current smoking, a decrease in frequent alcohol use, and an increase in fruit and vegetable consumption, despite an increase in overweight/obesity and physical inactivity. In Mongolia, the reduction of smoking, the reduction of high BP, and the reduction of poor fruit and vegetable intake can be attributed to tobacco demand-reduction measures, the increase in tobacco excise taxes, national salt/sodium policies, the management of major noncommunicable diseases, and the "drug therapy counseling for high-risk persons."…”

“…Like in our study, among older adults in Malaysia, the prevalence of hypertension decreased significantly. [ 17 ] Possible reasons for the decrease in hypertension in Mongolia can be attributed to better control of hypertension, a decrease in current smoking, a decrease in frequent alcohol use, and an increase in fruit and vegetable consumption, despite an increase in overweight/obesity and physical inactivity. In Mongolia, the reduction of smoking, the reduction of high BP, and the reduction of poor fruit and vegetable intake can be attributed to tobacco demand-reduction measures, the increase in tobacco excise taxes, national salt/sodium policies, the management of major noncommunicable diseases, and the “drug therapy counseling for high-risk persons.” [ 21 , 22 ] The reduction of frequent alcohol use can be attributed to the strengthening of the national alcohol prevention and control programme in 2005, [ 23 ] and the “Together for Alcohol-Free Mongolia” campaign in 2011, [ 24 ] and an increase in body weight and physical inactivity can in part be attributed to no change in public awareness of diet and/or physical activity.…”

“…Hypertension awareness was defined as “having ever been told to have hypertension by a doctor or other healthcare worker” among all hypertensives; in the 2005 survey the reference period for the diagnosed hypertension was only in the past 12 months; therefore, in the trend analysis on awareness only the surveys in 2009, 2013, and 2019 were included. Current hypertension treatment was defined as “respondents who took antihypertensive medication within 2 weeks of the interview among those who were aware of their hypertension status.” Control of hypertension was classified as “having a desirable BP level” (i.e., an average systolic blood pressure < 140 mm Hg and an average diastolic blood pressure < 90 mm Hg) among those who had hypertension or among those taking antihypertensive medication.” [ 11 , 17 ]…”

“…Control of hypertension was classified as "having a desirable BP level" (i.e., an average systolic blood pressure < 140 mm Hg and an average diastolic blood pressure < 90 mm Hg) among those who had hypertension or among those taking antihypertensive medication." [11,17] 2.2.3. Covariates.…”

Prevalence and risk factors of diabetes among adults aged 45 years or older in China: A national cross‐sectional study

“…Findings from our survey also showed that the overall proportion of patients who were aware of their diabetes condition was 39.29%; of those who were aware of their condition, 47.04% were receiving antidiabetic medication, which were lower than the results in developed countries, such as Latin America (79.8% awareness rate, 58.8% treatment rate), 24 Malaysia (65.2% awareness rate, 87.5% treatment rate) 25 and Switzerland (65.3% awareness rate, 86.0% treatment rate) 26 . The results is consistent with previous studies in China: rate of treatment was higher than previous study on population aged 18 years and over (25.8%), 3 and similar to study on adults aged 40 years or older in Jilin Province, Northeast China (47.7%) 27 .…”