Prevalence of Hypertension in the Middle Belt of Ghana: A Community-Based Screening Study

OBJECTIVE: Prevalence of hypertension is on the rise and can be attributed to aging populations and changing behavioral or lifestyle risk factors. The objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence, awareness, treatment, control, and risk factors of hypertension in the middle part of Ghana. METHODS: A total of 2,555 participants aged ≥18 years (mean age of 43 years; 60.5% female) were enrolled using a two-stage sampling method. The World Health Organization STEPwise approach to chronic disease risk factor Surveillance-Instrument v2.1 was used for data collection. Blood pressure and anthropometric measurements were assessed. Blood glucose and lipids were also measured using blood samples collected after an overnight fast. RESULTS: Prevalence of hypertension was 28.1% (95% CI: 26.3%–29.8%). Less than half, i.e., 45.9% (95% CI: 42.2%–49.6%), of the respondents were aware of their hypertensive status. Of those aware and had sought medical treatment, 41.3% (95% CI: 36.1–46.8) had their hypertension controlled. Risk factors associated with being hypertensive were current (p=0.053) and past tobacco usage (p < 0.001), prediabetes (p=0.042), high body mass index (p < 0.001), hyperglycaemia (p=0.083), and hypercholesterolaemia (p=0.010). Doing vigorous work and being active in sports were less associated with being hypertensive (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Our study showed that close to one-quarter of adults who were involved in the survey in the middle belt of Ghana were hypertensive with less than half being aware of their hypertensive status; nearly half of those on treatment had controlled hypertension. Healthcare systems need adequate resources that enable them to screen, educate, and refer identified hypertensive patients for appropriate management to prevent or minimize the development of hypertension-related complications.