Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 Aug 9;14(8):e0220710.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0220710. eCollection 2019.

Prevalence of uncontrolled blood pressure in Meknes, Morocco, and its associated risk factors in 2017

Touria Essayagh  1   2 , Meriem Essayagh  3 , Abderrahmane El Rhaffouli  4 , Mohammed Khouchoua  4 , Germain Bukassa Kazadi  5 , Asmae Khattabi  2 , Sanah Essayagh  6
Affiliations

Prevalence of uncontrolled blood pressure in Meknes, Morocco, and its associated risk factors in 2017

Touria Essayagh et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Background: Uncontrolled high blood pressure (UBP) can lead to various cardiovascular complications causing an estimated nine million deaths per year worldwide. In Meknes, epidemiologic data on UBP are scarce, depriving programs from evidence-based information that would allow a better management of hypertension. Hence, we aimed to assess UBP prevalence in hypertensive patients treated in Meknes and identify UBP-associated risk factors.

Methods: Between November and December 2017, we conducted a cross-sectional study enrolling 922 hypertensive patients managed at Meknes's primary health care facilities using the multistage sampling method. We interviewed patients face to face to collect their socio-demographic-characteristics, lifestyle behaviours, clinical parameters and the triad care system-patient-physician. Another questionnaire was self-administered by physicians to characterize therapeutic inertia. A multivariate logistic regression analysis highlighted the risk factors associated with UBP.

Results: UBP prevalence was 73% with a mean age of 61±11 years (mean±standard deviation) and a male/female ratio of 1/3. Risk factors associated with UBP were: therapeutic inertia (adjusted odds ratio to other variables (AOR) = 18.2, 95% CI [8.35-39.84]), drug non-adherence (AOR = 1.8, 95% CI [1.07-3.04]), obesity/overweight (AOR = 1.6, 95% CI [1.03-2.58]), unemployment (AOR = 1.9, 95% CI [1.09-3.01]), low income (AOR = 2.6, 95% CI [1.01-6.86]), family history of hypertension (AOR = 1.5, 95% CI [1.07-2.08]) and male sex (AOR = 1.6, 95% CI [1.04-2.58]).

Conclusion: UBP prevalence is high in Meknes. Prevention should firstly focus on raised awareness of hypertensive patients' self-care management. Secondly, health professionals should better comply to the guidelines of anti-hypertensive treatments. Lastly, health professionals should frequently be reminded to reach therapeutic goals to overcome therapeutic inertia.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Distribution of means of systolic and diastolic blood pressure values by age groups, Meknes, Morocco, 2017.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Panorama mondial de l'hypertension. Un "tueur silencieux" responsable d'une crise de santé publique mondiale 2013. WHO:[Available from: http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/85334/WHO_DCO_WHD_2013.2...
    1. Campos CL, Pierin AMG, Pinho NA. Hypertension in patients admitted to clinical units at university hospital: post-discharge evaluation rated by telephone. Einstein. 2017;15(1):45–9. 10.1590/S1679-45082017AO3862 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Cortez-Dias N, Martins SR, Belo A, Fiuza M, investigators VS. Association of metabolic risk factors with uncontrolled hypertension: comparison of the several definitions of metabolic syndrome. Journal of hypertension. 2013;31(10):1991–7. 10.1097/HJH.0b013e32836342f7 . - DOI - PubMed
    1. Girerd X, Hanon O, Pannier B, Mourad JJ, Vaisse B. [Determinants of controlled hypertension in patients treated with antihypertensive drugs in France: The French League Against Hypertension Survey (FLAHS 2015)]. Annales de cardiologie et d'angeiologie. 2016;65(3):219–22. 10.1016/j.ancard.2016.04.019 . - DOI - PubMed
    1. Kearney PM, Whelton M, Reynolds K, Muntner P, Whelton PK, He J. Global burden of hypertension: analysis of worldwide data. Lancet. 2005;365(9455):217–23. 10.1016/S0140-6736(05)17741-1 . - DOI - PubMed