Background: Uncontrolled hypertension remains an important issue in daily clinical practice worldwide. Although the majority of patients are treated in primary care, most of the data on blood pressure control originate from population-based studies or secondary healthcare.
Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the frequency of uncontrolled hypertension and associated risk factors among hypertensive patients followed at primary care facilities in Kinshasa, the capital city of Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Methods: A sample of 298 hypertensive patients seen at primary healthcare facilities, 90 men and 208 women, aged ≥ 18 years, were consecutively included in this cross-sectional study. The majority (66%) was receiving monotherapy, and diuretics (43%) were the most used drugs. According to 2007 European Society of Hypertension/European Society of Cardiology hypertension guidelines, uncontrolled hypertension was defined as blood pressure ≥ 140/90 or ≥ 130/80 mmHg (diabetes or chronic kidney disease). Logistic regression analysis was used to identify the determinants of uncontrolled hypertension.
Results: Uncontrolled hypertension was observed in 231 patients (77.5%), 72 men and 159 women. Uncontrolled systolic blood pressure (SBP) was more frequent than uncontrolled diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and increased significantly with advancing age (p = 0.002). The proportion of uncontrolled SBP and DBP was significantly higher in patients with renal failure (p = 0.01) and those with high (p = 0.03) to very high (p = 0.02) absolute cardiovascular risk. The metabolic syndrome (OR 2.40; 95% CI 1.01-5.74; p = 0.04) emerged as the main risk factor associated with uncontrolled hypertension.
Conclusion: Uncontrolled hypertension was common in this case series and was associated with factors related to lifestyle and diet, which interact with blood pressure control.