Screening of Arterial Hypertension in the Republic of Kazakhstan: Advantages, Disadvantages and Ways of Improving

BACKGROUND: In the Republic of Kazakhstan, the State screening program for early detection of Arterial Hypertension (AH) and other cardiovascular diseases (CVD) for the target age groups was established in 2008. METHODS: The results of cross-sectional survey conducted at 8 primary health care facilities of Almaty city and Almaty region of Kazakhstan from September 2012 until May 2013 was used. A multistage sampling approach was used to select patients with diagnosed arterial hypertension between 18 to 64 years of age residing in a city (n=405, 50.6%) or village (n=395, 49.4%). Data collection was done via face-to-face interviews using a semi-structured questionnaire. RESULTS: Rural residents (62.7%) mainly were “no-screened”. These patients get treatment in policlinics only in case of serious health problems. At younger ages of 18 and 39 years, AH is diagnosed less often among rural than among urban residents (P<0.05). In addition, 71% of the rural residents have incomes below the national average, which has a significant impact on their ability to purchase quality medicines and food and to engage in sports; 16.3% of the rural respondents do not follow doctor’s prescriptions due to the lack of money to buy medications. CONCLUSION: The screening for AH and the dissemination of information about screening in rural areas needs a lot of improvement, and that it is necessary to reconsider and improve the public policy for the distribution of free medications.