Prevalence and Risk Factors of Poorly Controlled Hypertension in Urban Communities

Background: Uncontrolled hypertension remains a major public health concern despite widespread availability of antihypertensive therapy, particularly in rapidly urbanizing populations. Objective: To determine the prevalence of uncontrolled hypertension and identify associated risk factors among treated hypertensive individuals in an urban population. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 310 treated hypertensive adults, of whom 202 were categorized as uncontrolled and 108 as controlled based on blood pressure criteria. Sociodemographic characteristics, lifestyle factors, treatment patterns, and adherence were evaluated, and multivariate logistic regression was used to identify independent predictors. Results: The prevalence of uncontrolled hypertension was 65.2%. Older age, additional salt intake, smoking, obesity, poor medication adherence, and single-drug therapy were associated with higher uncontrolled hypertension rates. Multivariate analysis identified additional salt intake, lack of structured healthcare education, single-drug therapy, and poor adherence as significant predictors. Conclusion: A high burden of uncontrolled hypertension persists among treated urban patients, highlighting the need for improved patient education, dietary interventions, regular follow-up, and optimized pharmacological strategies to enhance blood pressure control and reduce cardiovascular risk.