Uncontrolled hypertension and associated factors among hypertensive patients in primary health care centers in Jazan Region, Saudi Arabia: A cross-sectional study

Background: Hypertension is a serious public health problem that affects people of all ages. Hypertensive patients are at risk for several complications, including stroke and heart disease. Around one billion individuals are living with uncontrolled hypertension globally. In recent years, there has been increasing interest in the control of hypertension. This study determined the uncontrolled hypertension prevalence and associated factors among patients with hypertension in primary health care centers in Jazan Region, Saudi Arabia. Methods: We carried out an analytical cross-sectional study with a multistage sampling technique from January-March 2022. Data were collected using an interviewer-administered semi-structured questionnaire. Data was entered into and cleaned by IBM SPSS version 25. The Chi-square test was used to test for the presence of any statistically significant variation of the study variables. Multivariate analysis was performed for associated factors for uncontrolled hypertension. Results: We enrolled 354 participants and found that patients who were older, female, and obese, had lower physical activity, had stress and had lower levels of education were at higher risk of uncontrolled hypertension. Conclusion: These findings suggest that interventions to improve hypertension control should focus on these groups of patients and increase the effort of preventive services by establishing more preventive clinics in primary health care centers.