Blood Pressure Control Status of Hypertensive Patients Attending an Out-Patient Specialist Clinic in Ghana
[1]
Acheamfour-Akowuah Emmanuel, Directorate of Medicine, Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Kumasi, Ghana.
[2]
Owusu Isaac Kofi, Department of Medicine, School of Medical Sciences, College of Health Sciences, Kwame, Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana; Directorate of Medicine, Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Kumasi, Ghana.
[3]
Nkum Bernard C., Department of Medicine, School of Medical Sciences, College of Health Sciences, Kwame, Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana; Directorate of Medicine, Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Kumasi, Ghana.
Hypertension is a major cardiovascular disease risk factor, yet with availability of innovative and effective medical therapy its control is still a huge challenge in sub-Saharan Africa including Ghana. We undertook a cross-sectional study among hypertensive patients attending an out-patient specialist clinic in a semi-urban community in Ghana to determine blood pressure control rate and characterize antihypertensive medication use among the patients. Three hundred and fifty four (354) hypertensive patients aged between 23 - 79 years with the mean age (± SD) of 46.9 (± 12.1) years were studied. The mean duration of hypertension was 5.5 years (range 1 month to 45 years). Two hundred and sixteen (61.02%) of the patients were prescribed one antihypertensive, 53(14.97%) were prescribed two antihypertensives and 3 (0.85%) were prescribed three antihypertensives; with antihypertensive class being calcium channel blockers in 76.2% of the patients, beta-blockers in 11.4% of the patients, centrally acting agents in 6.9 % of the patients, and angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors in 3.0% of the patients. The commonest calcium channel blocker, ACE inhibitor and beta-blocker prescribed were nifedipine, lisinopril, and atenolol respectively. One hundred and thirty-eight (39.0%) patients had adequate blood pressure control. Among patients with poor blood pressure control, 74 (34.3%) had blood pressure >160/l00mmHg (hypertension stage II). In conclusion, our study shows that majority of the hypertensive patients studied had poorly controlled blood pressure which indicates a higher future burden of cardiovascular diseases.
Hypertension, Blood Pressure, Control Rate, Antihypertensive, Ghana
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