Abstract
BACKGROUND: The incidence of hypertension has been increasing in the past decade. Little is known regarding the relationship between hypertension and human development index (HDI). OBJECTIVES: The objective is to identify the relationship between the prevalence of hypertension and human development index (HDI). METHODS: An ecological study was conducted. The data from World Health Organization reports and United Nations Development Programme reports for 182 countries, including the HDI values, rates of tobacco use, physical inactivity, alcohol use, and salt intake. The Generalized Additive Models were implemented to assess the association between the prevalence of hypertension and the HDI. RESULTS: Among 182 countries, the prevalence of hypertension ranged from 13% to 41%. The highest HDI value was 0.949 and the lowest was 0.352. In model 1, statistically significant associations were found in three populations, the largest R(2) was 0.245. In model 2, the largest R(2) was 0.485. In linear part, there was negative relationship in female population, while HDI was associated with prevalence of hypertension in all three populations, which was explained by spline function. The curve indicated that there were three intervals from low to high HDI. From 0 to 0.6 and 0.8 to 1, an evident decreasing trend of prevalence was found, while the rate increased when HDI was in the interval of 0.6 to 0.8. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, we identified the association between the prevalence of hypertension and the HDI and the underlying pattern of the relationship. The findings will aid the planning of hypertension control priorities and provide suggestions for interventions.