Prevalence, awareness, treatment and control of hypertension in urban poor communities in Accra.

Hypertension is a major public health problem in many sub-Saharan African countries including Ghana. The prevalence of hypertension in Ghana is on the increase and evidence suggests that awareness, management and control in urban poor communities are very low. The objective was to assess the prevalence, awareness and control of hypertension in Accra. The study was a cross-sectional study of adults in their reproductive ages (15-49 for women and 15-59 for men). The overall prevalence of hypertension was 28.3%. The prevalence increased with age in both men and women. Among respondents who had hypertension, 7.4% were aware of their condition, 3.9% were on antihypertensive medication while 3.5% of hypertensive respondents on treatment had their blood pressure controlled below 140/90 mmHg. The level of awareness and treatment was lower in men than in women. Among individuals on treatment, the level of control was higher among women compared with men. The low levels of awareness, treatment and control despite the high prevalence of hypertension should be a matter of concern to stakeholders in the health sector. Urgent medical assistance, which should be comprehensive, is advocated for implementation in such communities. The human resource needed to implement such plans should have adequate training.