Trends in the prevalence and economic burden of hypertension and its socioeconomic disparities in rural southwestern China: two repeated cross-sectional studies

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to analyse trends in the prevalence and economic burden of hypertension and its socioeconomic disparities in rural southwestern China. DESIGN: Two repeated cross-sectional studies were conducted to collect interview and health examination data among individuals aged ≥35 years in rural Yunnan Province, China. SETTING: Three rural areas of Yunnan, China. PARTICIPANTS: We invited 8187 consenting participants in 2010–2011 and 7572 consenting participants in 2020–2021 to undergo interviews and health examinations. RESULTS: The standardised prevalence of hypertension significantly increased from 26.1% in 2011 to 40.4% in 2021 (p<0.01), and the per capita direct, indirect and disease economic burdens increased from US$1323, US$46 and US$1369 to US$2196, US$49 and US$2244, respectively. In addition to the indirect economic burden, the direct and disease economic burdens increased significantly. The prevalence of hypertension was higher in illiterate population, among participants with low annual household income per capita, and participants with good access to medical services than in their counterparts who had good education, high annual household income per capita and poor access to medical services (all p<0.05). Moreover, the prevalence of hypertension showed a downward trend with improvement in socioeconomic position (SEP) (p<0.05). The per capita direct and disease economic burdens increased most in participants with low SEP, but the per capita indirect economic burden increased most in participants with upper-middle SEP. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence and economic burden of hypertension have visibly accelerated in rural Yunnan Province over the 10 years studied, and socioeconomic disparities have been found in the prevalence and economic burden of hypertension. These findings highlight that socioeconomic differentials should be tailored to address the timing of effective interventions for hypertension prevention and control and reduce the economic burden of hypertension in rural southwestern China.