Epidemiology of Hypertension in Asia

Asia is the largest and most populous continent, with roughly 60% of the total population in the world. It is divided into five regions, namely Middle East, East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Central Asia. Asian countries of interest in this chapter would include Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, North/South Korea, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Syria, Tajikistan, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Turkey, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, and Yemen. Much of the literature reviewed would involve the countries in Southeast Asia (SEA) (e.g., Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Philippines, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Brunei, East Timor), Japan, and countries in the middle East. This chapter discusses the prevalence, incidence, and risk factors of hypertension across the Asian countries. It is important to highlight that the various literature reviewed here would have different definitions of hypertension and blood pressure control, as well as different methods in determining blood pressure measurements. Period of evaluation also varies from study to study. Caution must be exercised when interpreting the presented numbers, specifically for the prevalence and incidence data.