Hypertension in Egypt: A Systematic Review

BACKGROUND: With 29% of the world’s adult population projected to have hypertension by the year 2025, prevention and management of hypertension have become a public health priority. Hypertension also referred to as high blood pressure, in which the arteries have persistent high blood pressure. This results in a condition where the heart has to work harder than normal to flow blood through the vessels. A few years ago, there was no sufficient information about the epidemiology of hypertension, treatment protocols and its consequences in Egypt. Lately, there has been a major change in health system in Egypt, including research development. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the existing data on prevalence, levels of awareness, treatment and control of hypertension in Egypt with a view of suggestive actions that could enhance control of hypertension and improve quality of life of the patients. METHODS: Six databases (Pub Med, Cochrane, MEDLINE, Sciencedirect, MedEase, Embase) were searched in November 2013, applying the following criteria: published from January 1995 to November 2013 written in English and carried out on human subjects. RESULTS: 21 studies were included in the systematic review of the prevalence, awareness, and control of hypertension in Egypt. The sample size ranged from 27 subjects to 12008 subjects, and the age range from 6-95 years. Every study had both male and female representatives. In most of the studies, the women were more than the men. CONCLUSION: There are declines in the levels of awareness of hypertension and even lower levels of control. Research is required to reveal reasons behind these near to the ground levels of control and treatment, and especially awareness, in order to put in the picture policy for the improvement of quality of life of hypertensive patients in Egypt.