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Objective In Africa, the number of patients with hypertension is expected to reach 216.8 million by 2030. Large-scale data on antihypertensive medications used in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are scarce.Here, we describe antihypertensive drug strategies and identify treatment factors associated with blood pressure (BP) control in 12 Sub-Saharan countries.Setting Outpatient consultations for hypertension in urban tertiary cardiology centres of 29 hospitals from 17 cities across 12 SSA countries between January 2014 and November 2015.Participants Patients ≥18 years of age with hypertension were enrolled at any visit during outpatient consultations in the cardiology departmentsMain outcome measure We collected BP levels, demographic characteristics and antihypertensive treatment use (including traditional medicine) of patients with hypertension attending outpatient visits. BP control was defined as seated office BP

IntroductionOver the past few decades, the prevalence of hypertension has dramatically increased in Sub-Saharan Africa. Poor adherence has been identified as a major cause of failure to control hypertension. Scarce data are available in Africa.AimsWe assessed adherence to medication and identified socioeconomics, clinical and treatment factors associated with low adherence among hypertensive patients in 12 sub-Saharan African countries.MethodWe conducted a cross-sectional survey in urban clinics of both low and middle income countries. Data were collected by physicians on demographics, treatment and clinical data among hypertensive patients attending the clinics. Adherence was assessed by questionnaires completed by the patients. Factors associated with low adherence were investigated using logistic regression with a random effect on countries.ResultsThere were 2198 individuals from 12 countries enrolled in the study. Overall, 678 (30.8%), 738 (33.6%), 782 (35.6%) participants had respectively low, medium and high adherence to antihypertensive medication. Multivariate analysis showed that the use of traditional medicine (OR: 2.28, 95%CI [1.79-2.90]) and individual wealth index (low vs. high wealth: OR: 1.86, 95%CI [1.35-2.56] and middle vs. high wealth: OR: 1.42, 95%CI [1.11-1.81]) were significantly and independently associated with poor adherence to medication. In stratified analysis, these differences in adherence to medication according to individual wealth index were observed in low-income countries (pConclusionThis study revealed the high frequency of poor adherence in African patients and the associated factors. These findings should be useful for tailoring future programs to tackle hypertension in low income countries that are better adapted to patients, with a potential associated enhancement of their effectiveness.