Background. Many studies throughout the world show that hypertension is not effectively treated and controlled, which continued to pose an important challenge in health systems in the world. Design and methods. Population surveys were carried out in 2002 and 2012 in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBIH) on representative sample at the age of 25-64. The surveys used systematic stratified sample. Questionnaires and anthropometric measure protocols were adapted from internationally recommended surveys. Results. In the past ten years there has been a slight increase in hypertension prevalence in researched population (41% vs. 42%). Percentage of hypertensive male and female respondents who are not aware of their hypertension actually dropped in the past decade from 54.3% to 51.4%. In 2002 total number of hypertensive respondents aware of their hypertension included 8.1% of male respondents and 10.3% female respondents whose condition was not treated and this rate effectively dropped during the 10-year period. Number of hypertensive, treated, and uncontrolled respondents dropped as reported in the 2012 survey; consequently percentage of hypertensive, treated, and controlled respondents in the 2012 survey increased, in particular in female population.Conclusions. Investments in primary health care, improved availability, and improved quality of health care in the FBIH in the past 10 years can explain increased rate of hypertension detection and treatment; however, efforts should be continued to introduce hypertension screening programs and hypertension control programs.

Introduction The objective of the paper is to analyze and to assess prevalence of the major behavioral risk factors among adult population (25-64 years of age) in the rural and urban areas in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBIH).Methods Data were taken from cross-sectional population survey on the health status population in the FBIH. To ensure a sample representative for the adult population in the FBIH it was applied the two-stage stratified systematic sample. The survey covered a total of 2735 adult population aged 25-64 years, of which 1087 in the urban areas and 1648 in rural areas.Results. The prevalence of smoking among men in rural areas is significantly higher than among men in urban areas (69% vs. 55%), while the prevalence of smoking among women is higher in urban than in rural areas (45% vs. 31%). There is no statistically significant difference in prevalence of obesity and physical activity according to the age groups among men and women in the urban and rural areas. The frequency of changes in behavior related to acquiring healthy living habits in the rural areas is statistically significant among men and women, while in the urban areas there is no statistical significance among the sexes.Conclusions. The results indicate that there are no significant differences in prevalence of factor risks in urban and rural areas. Prevalence of unhealthy lifestyles is high, and the results should be used to improve standard planning of health promotion-prevention programs.

Introduction: Results of routine health statistics show that in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBIH) are the leading causes of death of population are diseases of circulatory system (53% in 2012) namely, cardiomyopathy, heart failure and acute myocardial infarction. This data are red alert for immediate and imminent action. Methods: Two cross-sectional population surveys were conducted in 2002 and 2012 in the FBIH among adult population aged 25-64 years for assessment and distribution of major risk factors for cardiovascular diseases (CVD), preferably hypertension, obesity and smoking. Results: Overall prevalence of hypertension among adult population in the FBIH in year 2012 was 41%, similar as in 2002. Prevalence of obesity in 2012 among men was higher compared to 2002, stood at 20.3%, while for women it was 24.1%. Total of 61.3% of men and 35.9% of women said they were daily smokers, while the percentage in 2002 was 49.3% among men and 29.8% among women and the difference was statistically significant. Conclusions: Distributions of the major risk factors for CVD are worsening in the adult population in the FBIH, especially in middle age men, what can result in serious deterioration of health and increased rates of chronic diseases, especially CVD.