Assessing Community-Based interventions effectiveness on hypertension prevention and control: A systematic review and Meta-Analysis.

Abstract

Background: Designing and implementing community-based interventions for the prevention and control of hypertension is of particular importance. The aim of the present study is to systematically review the effectiveness of community-based interventions conducted for the prevention and control of hypertension.

Methods: Data for this systematic review and meta-analysis were collected from the databases PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, manual search of relevant journals, Google Scholar, searching reference lists of selected articles, and unpublished sources from the beginning of the year 2000 to 2025. A random effects model in Stata:16 software was used for the meta-analysis.

Results: Ultimately, 68 articles were included in the study. Interventions were effective in 54 studies and ineffective in 14 studies. Meta-analysis results of 34 studies showed that the interventions reduced the mean systolic blood pressure by 7.26 mmHg [5.32-9.2, CI = 95%] and diastolic blood pressure by 2.77 mmHg [1.81-3.73, CI = 95%]. Overall, interventions conducted in low- and middle-income countries, in healthcare centers, as single-component interventions, and with fewer repetition periods were more effective. Meta-regression results indicated that the variables of patient follow-up duration (weeks) and the frequency of intervention (weeks) did not predict the outcomes of interventions on changes in systolic and diastolic blood pressure. The heterogeneity of study results was high, but the likelihood of publication bias was very low.

Conclusion: Due to the significant effectiveness of community-based interventions in preventing and controlling hypertension, the development and implementation of additional such interventions are strongly recommended.