Prevalence, awareness and management of hypertension in a recently urbanised community, eastern Jordan.

The objectives of this study were to: (1) estimate the magnitude of hypertension, and its levels of awareness and control of hypertension among a recently urbanised community of Jordanian aborigines; and (2) to compare the study findings with findings from other Jordanian communities. A sample was randomly selected from the roster of all inhabitants of the community aged 25 years or older. Data on 545 subjects included in the sample were collected during the months of January and February of 1995. A total of 89 (16.3%) subjects were suffering hypertension defined as systolic blood pressure > or =160 mm Hg and/or diastolic blood pressure > or =95 mm Hg or on antihypertensive medication. Prevalence rate of hypertension was comparable to that reported from other Jordanian communities who have experienced an urban lifestyle earlier than the reference community. Logistic regression analysis indicated that hypertension was positively associated with age, illiteracy, body mass index, family history of hypertension, and diabetes mellitus. No association was detected between hypertension and each of gender, smoking, and total serum cholesterol. This study showed that the vast majority of hypertensive patients (82.0%) were aware of their diagnosis. However, more than two-thirds (68.5%) of those aware of their diagnosis did not achieve control of their hypertension. In conclusion, hypertension is a common public health problem in this community and that the hypertension management programme is far below the optimal level.