TY - JOUR T1 - Does greater individual social capital improve the management of hypertension? Cross-national analysis of 61 229 individuals in 21 countries JF - BMJ Global Health DO - 10.1136/bmjgh-2017-000443 VL - 2 IS - 4 SP - e000443 AU - Benjamin Palafox AU - Yevgeniy Goryakin AU - David Stuckler AU - Marc Suhrcke AU - Dina Balabanova AU - Khalid F Alhabib AU - Alvaro Avezum AU - Ahmad Bahonar AU - Xiulin Bai AU - Jephat Chifamba AU - Antonio L Dans AU - Rafael Diaz AU - Rajeev Gupta AU - Romaina Iqbal AU - Noorhassim Ismail AU - Manmeet Kaur AU - Mirac V Keskinler AU - Rasha Khatib AU - Annamarie Kruger AU - Iolanthe M Kruger AU - Fernando Lanas AU - Scott A Lear AU - Wei Li AU - Jia Liu AU - Patricio Lopez-Jaramillo AU - Nasheeta Peer AU - Paul Poirier AU - Omar Rahman AU - Rajamohanan K Pillai AU - Sumathy Rangarajan AU - Annika Rosengren AU - Sumathi Swaminathan AU - Andrzej Szuba AU - Koon Teo AU - Yang Wang AU - Andreas Wielgosz AU - Karen E Yeates AU - Afzalhussein Yusufali AU - Salim Yusuf AU - Martin McKee Y1 - 2017/12/01 UR - http://gh.bmj.com/content/2/4/e000443.abstract N2 - Introduction Social capital, characterised by trust, reciprocity and cooperation, is positively associated with a number of health outcomes. We test the hypothesis that among hypertensive individuals, those with greater social capital are more likely to have their hypertension detected, treated and controlled.Methods Cross-sectional data from 21 countries in the Prospective Urban and Rural Epidemiology study were collected covering 61 229 hypertensive individuals aged 35–70 years, their households and the 656 communities in which they live. Outcomes include whether hypertensive participants have their condition detected, treated and/or controlled. Multivariate statistical models adjusting for community fixed effects were used to assess the associations of three social capital measures: (1) membership of any social organisation, (2) trust in other people and (3) trust in organisations, stratified into high-income and low-income country samples.Results In low-income countries, membership of any social organisation was associated with a 3% greater likelihood of having one’s hypertension detected and controlled, while greater trust in organisations significantly increased the likelihood of detection by 4%. These associations were not observed among participants in high-income countries.Conclusion 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. ER -