Does greater individual social capital improve the management of hypertension? Cross-national analysis of 61 229 individuals in 21 countries.
Benjamin PalafoxYevgeniy GoryakinDavid StucklerMarc SuhrckeDina BalabanovaKhalid F AlhabibAlvaro AvezumAhmad BahonarXiulin BaiJephat ChifambaAntonio L DansRafael DiazRajeev GuptaRomaina IqbalNoorhassim IsmailManmeet KaurMirac V KeskinlerRasha KhatibAnnamarie KrugerIolanthe M KrugerFernando LanasScott A LearWei LiJia LiuPatricio Lopez-JaramilloNasheeta PeerPaul PoirierOmar RahmanRajamohanan K PillaiSumathy RangarajanAnnika RosengrenSumathi SwaminathanAndrzej SzubaKoon TeoYang WangAndreas WielgoszKaren E YeatesAfzalhussein YusufaliSalim YusufMartin McKeePublished in: BMJ global health (2017)
Although the observed associations are modest, some aspects of social capital are associated with better management of hypertension in low-income countries where health systems are often weak. Given that hypertension affects millions in these countries, even modest gains at all points along the treatment pathway could improve management for many, and translate into the prevention of thousands of cardiovascular events each year.