TY - JOUR
T1 - Drug control of hypertension in primary health care centers-registered patients, Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia
AU - Elzubier, Ahmed G.
AU - Al-Shahri, Mohammed A.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 1997 Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications. All rights reserved.
PY - 1997/12
Y1 - 1997/12
N2 - Objective: To assess the quality of the pharmacological control of hypertension. Design: A cross-sectional study. Subjects: Primary health care centers-registered hypertensive patients. Setting: Primary health care centers in Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia. Methods: Data was recorded, using a structured questionnaire, through direct interviewing of patients, and from their medical records. It included demographic characteristics, hypertension related, and doctors′-related variables; and patients′ utilization of other health facilities and whether they had other chronic diseases. Results: The proportion of patients with controlled hypertension was 37%. It was significantly increased with age below 55 years, with non-Saudis, duration of treatment shorter than 5 years; and with the use of monotherapy. Doctors′ care-related variables did not show significant variation with the number of controlled patients which may imply that the quality of follow-up might not be adequate. Conclusions: The proportion of controlled patients cared for in the PHC centers is low. The factors associated with control were age, and the use of a single antihypertensive drug. The study questions the quality of follow-up of patients by the PHC physicians.
AB - Objective: To assess the quality of the pharmacological control of hypertension. Design: A cross-sectional study. Subjects: Primary health care centers-registered hypertensive patients. Setting: Primary health care centers in Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia. Methods: Data was recorded, using a structured questionnaire, through direct interviewing of patients, and from their medical records. It included demographic characteristics, hypertension related, and doctors′-related variables; and patients′ utilization of other health facilities and whether they had other chronic diseases. Results: The proportion of patients with controlled hypertension was 37%. It was significantly increased with age below 55 years, with non-Saudis, duration of treatment shorter than 5 years; and with the use of monotherapy. Doctors′ care-related variables did not show significant variation with the number of controlled patients which may imply that the quality of follow-up might not be adequate. Conclusions: The proportion of controlled patients cared for in the PHC centers is low. The factors associated with control were age, and the use of a single antihypertensive drug. The study questions the quality of follow-up of patients by the PHC physicians.
KW - Hypertension control
KW - Primary health care
KW - Saudi Arabia
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0038753662&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=0038753662&partnerID=8YFLogxK
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0038753662
SN - 2230-8229
VL - 4
SP - 47
EP - 53
JO - Journal of Family and Community Medicine
JF - Journal of Family and Community Medicine
IS - 2
ER -