Blood pressure control, lifestyle and disease awareness of Saudi hypertensive patients

Mortality and morbidity from hypertension have reached epidemic proportion worldwide. It has been estimated that 874 million adults globally have systolic blood pressure (SBP) of 140 mm Hg or higher. A recent study from Saudi Arabia found 15.2% of adult Saudis were hypertensive of whom 57.8% unaware of this diagnosis. We aim to evaluate the lifestyle advices given to Saudi hypertensive patients, their current lifestyle to determine the effects of these factors on their BP control. Nonrandom convenience sampling of Saudi patients followed up in the clinic by cross-sectional questionnaire. Their BP, blood sugar, and other anthropometric data were measured and provided self-filled questionnaire. Of all participants, 148 known hypertensives on treatment were included in the study with a mean age of 45.7 ± 29.0 years. The mean SBP and diastolic BP were 134.7 ± 21.4 and 85.0 ± 18.9 mm Hg, respectively. The overall awareness score was 77.5% with the highest awareness score for "BP can be controlled by proper management" (93.2%) and the lowest score given for "BP is not affected by alcohol consumption" (63.4%). We found significantly lower mean SBP in those with higher awareness in five of the nine awareness areas inquired. We believe that educating hypertensive patients about their diseases and lifestyle advices has a significant impact on disease control and well-being.