Undiagnosed arterial hypertension in a Latin American country, 2019 to 2021

Julio C. Vallejos-Mavila, Departamento de Investigación, Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias Biomédicas, Facultad de Medicina Humana, Universidad Ricardo Palma, Lima, Perú
Rubén Espinoza-Rojas, Departamento de Investigación, Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias Biomédicas, Facultad de Medicina Humana, Universidad Ricardo Palma, Lima, Perú
Jhony A. De La Cruz-Vargas, Departamento de Investigación, Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias Biomédicas, Facultad de Medicina Humana, Universidad Ricardo Palma, Lima, Perú

Objective: To determine the factors associated with undiagnosed hypertension. Method: A quantitative, observational, retrospective, cross-sectional and analytical study was carried out in people aged 15 years and over included in the Demographic and Family Health Survey from 2019 to 2021 in Peru. A statistical analysis was carried out using the corrected F test, and crude and adjusted prevalence ratio (aPR), with a 95% confidence interval (95%CI) for inferential analysis, through Poisson regression with robust variance. Likewise, the CSPLAN analysis was carried out for complex samples according to the sample design and taking into account the weighting factor. Results: In the multivariate analysis, a significant association was found between the factors male sex (aPR: 1.22; 95%CI: 1.19-1.26), age from 30 to 49 years (aPR: 0.94; 95%CI: 0.92-0.96), native ethnicity (aPR: 1.07; 95%CI: 1.04-1.10), having health insurance (aPR: 0.91; 95%CI: 0.89-0.93), suffering from some permanent limitation (aPR: 0.83; 95%CI: 0.76-0.91) and diabetes mellitus (aPR: 0.59; 95%CI: 0.55-0.64). No significant association was found with educational level, language, Afro-Peruvian ethnicity, or alcohol or tobacco consumption (p > 0.05). Conclusions: The prevalence of undiagnosed arterial hypertension is high, 69.5%. The associated factors are male sex, native ethnicity, age between 30 and 49 years, having health insurance, suffering from some permanent limitation and having diabetes mellitus.

Keywords: Hypertension. Diagnosis. Prevalence. Health survey.