Estimating the burden of hypertension prevalence in Filipino Americans: a systematic review protocol

INTRODUCTION: Filipino Americans experience disproportionately high rates of hypertension, increasing their risk of cardiovascular complications, disability, premature mortality, and rising health care costs. Accurately estimating prevalence is essential for understanding disease burden and guiding health care planning and policy. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: This review will consider observational studies with more than 50 participants that report the point prevalence of hypertension among Filipino Americans aged 18 years and older residing in the United States. Studies on hypertensive disorders of pregnancy will be excluded. METHODS: The review will follow the JBI methodology for systematic reviews of prevalence and incidence. The databases to be searched will include MEDLINE (Ovid), Embase (Embase.com), Web of Science, and CINAHL (EBSCOhost). Two reviewers will independently conduct study selection, critical appraisal, and data extraction. Methodological quality will be evaluated using the JBI critical appraisal tools. Pooled prevalence estimates with 95% CIs will be calculated using a random effects model. Statistical heterogeneity will be evaluated, and, where possible, subgroup analyses will be conducted based on age group, gender, geographic region, time of data collection, and hypertension stage. When statistical pooling is not feasible, the results will be presented narratively, supported by tables and figures. REVIEW REGISTRATION: PROSPERO #CRD42025649770.