RIYADH, 27 September 2006 — Managing hypertension in the Kingdom’s primary health care centers (PHC) has been affected by a lack of resources and facilities, according to a study conducted by researchers. The PHCs lacked essential resources for the treatment of hypertension and the physicians did not have adequate knowledge about chronic disease management.
There was also a need for updating the national guidelines for the management of hypertension and making them accessible to doctors in PHC clinics, said Dr. Abdulmohsin A. Al-Tuwijri from the Department of Family Medicine, Ministry of Health, and Dr. Mohammed Othman Al-Rukban, College of Medicine, King Saud University.
The findings of their study involving 255 patients from 73 PHC centers have been published in the latest issue of the Annals of Saudi Medicine. During their survey, the researchers found that “A key factor associated with successful blood pressure control is the physician’s knowledge and attitude toward the importance of achieving targeted blood pressure levels.”
They discovered poor compliance with hypertensive therapy which, according to them, was a major factor in the failure to control hypertension.
“In one study from Tabuk, the compliance rate was as low as 53 percent and was accompanied by inadequate blood pressure control among noncompliant subjects.”
Another major finding of the study was that it identified four barriers for the successful control of high blood pressure-lack of detection, lack of referral to other hospitals, lack of appropriate treatment and lack of long-term maintenance.
The researchers concluded that in the interest of patients it should be mandatory for PHC centers to have adequate diagnostic, therapeutic and educational resources in addition to competent physicians who can manage hypertension through a coordinated approach.
The overall rate of hypertension in PHC centers in Riyadh was 15.4 percent. Of these, 11.3 percent of cases were known hypertensive and 4.1 percent were newly diagnosed.
“About 27 percent of all hypertensive patients were not aware of their problem, while more than 31 percent of the patients were apparently not well controlled.
The prevalence of hypertension in the Kingdom ranges from five to 30 percent in the Eastern, Central and Western Provinces, the study said, pointing out that the statistics are tentative. These figures compare with 26.3 percent in Kuwait, 32.1 percent in Qatar, 45.3 percent in Egypt and 33 percent in Oman. The survey identified a strong correlation between hypertension and obesity. The problem was compounded by the high number of smokers among those suffering from the problem.