Hypertension is a highly prevalent but modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease. It is also estimated to be the leading cause of death in LMICs. However, it is often thought that hypertension mainly affects the wealthiest people in these countries. The researchers in this study looked at hypertension rates across socioeconomic status levels to determine the association of education level and household wealth with hypertension. whether and how the relationship between socioeconomic status and hypertension differs between regions; and how socioeconomic gradients of hypertension within countries are associated with the level of economic development. “Achieving health equity requires understanding which health conditions are more prevalent among the most socioeconomically disadvantaged segments of society,” said Pascal Geldsetzer, ScD, senior author of the study and assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Primary Care and Population Health. . at Stanford University in Stanford, California. “This is particularly important for hypertension because people of low socioeconomic status are generally less able to access high-quality health care for stroke and heart attacks and are usually more dependent on their overall health to earn a living ». The researchers looked at more than 1.2 million people in 76 LMICs, which were categorized into six regions according to the World Health Organization’s regional groups: Africa, Eastern Mediterranean, Europe, Americas, Southeast Asia and Western Pacific. The median age was 40 years and 58.5% were women. They found that differences in hypertension prevalence between groups divided by education level and household wealth were small in most countries. The findings, the researchers said, may be “counterintuitive” because poorer people in LMICs are often assumed to engage in large amounts of physical activity through manual labor and are not overweight or obese. However, other risk factors, such as aging and pollution, may be responsible for high rates of hypertension. There were some variations in the findings, including in Southeast Asia where there was a higher prevalence of hypertension in more educated and wealthier people and in countries with lower versus higher GDP, but the absolute differences were still small. “Policymakers interested in improving health among the most disadvantaged groups may want to invest in improving hypertension prevention and control among these groups,” Geldsetzer said. “This seems particularly warranted given that we have found in previous research that adults with the least education and household wealth are less likely to receive treatment for their hypertension and ultimately achieve blood pressure control.” In a related editorial, Yashashwi Pokharel, MBBS, MSCR, assistant professor of cardiology and fellow in the Office of Global Health at Wake Forest School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, said the global burden of hypertension is “dismal.” and there were few data on differences in hypertension prevalence by socioeconomic status. “Now that we know that the prevalence of hypertension is not different in poorer, less educated, or less economically developed countries compared to richer and more educated counterparts, we should develop, test, and implement effective strategies to enhance global equity in hypertension care. Pokharel said. The American College of Cardiology envisions a world where innovation and knowledge optimize cardiovascular care and outcomes. As the professional home for the entire cardiovascular care team, the mission of the College and its more than 56,000 members is to transform cardiovascular care and improve heart health. The ACC accredits cardiovascular professionals who meet rigorous qualifications and lead the way in shaping health policy, standards and guidelines. The College also provides professional medical education, disseminates cardiovascular research through the world-renowned JACC journals, operates national registries to measure and improve care, and offers cardiovascular accreditation to hospitals and institutions. For more, visit acc.org. ACC’s JACC family of journals ranks among the top cardiovascular journals in the world for scientific impact. The flagship journal, the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC) — and a family of specialty journals consisting of JACC: Advances, JACC: Asia, JACC: Basic to Translational Science, JACC: CardioOncology, JACC: Cardiovascular Imaging, JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions, JACC: Case Reports, JACC: Clinical Electrophysiology, and JACC: Heart Failure — pride themselves on publishing the leading peer-reviewed research on all aspects of cardiovascular disease. Learn more at JACC.org.
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