Prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control rates of hypertension in the general population of Australia: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: A recent call-to-action highlighted that Australia is lagging behind high-income countries regarding hypertension control rates. Methods: We performed a systematic literature search of reports on prevalence, awareness, treatment and control rates since 2010. We also undertook an individual participant data meta-analysis of six population-based studies in the general population from 1980 to 2018 to understand the size of the problem and trajectories over time. Results: The aggregated data showed that after 2010, hypertension prevalence was 31% ]95% confidence interval (CI) 27–34%], and awareness, treatment, and control rates among people with hypertension were 56% (41–71%), 54% (46–62%) and 34% (22–47%), respectively. Since 1980, these figures have shown slight improvement. However, we noted a low availability of quality nationwide randomized databases for Australia. Conclusions: We require critical action to improve the prevention, detection and treatment of hypertension, and highlight the need for large-scale investment in tracking population health in order to produce vital health statistics for the nation.