Publication:

Prevalence of pre-hypertension and hypertension and its correlates among rural adult population in district Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh

Background The prevalence of hypertension is on a rise in India, both in urban and rural areas. Hypertension is reported to be the fourth contributor to premature death in developed countries and the seventh in developing countries. Aims and objectives was to find out the prevalence of pre-hypertension and hypertension among persons above 18 years of age in rural area of Jhansi and to assess the association of different risk factors with pre-hypertension and hypertension.

Methods Study was conducted in the field practice area of Department of Community Medicine, MLB Medical College, Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh. Total 1100 participants were collected by house to house visit. Chi square and multivariate logistic analysis were used to assess the association.

Results Prevalence of prehypertension and hypertension was 24.2% and 19.3% respectively in our study. The factors identified as increasing the risk of developing hypertension were increasing age, family history of hypertension, inadequate physical activity, excess salt intake, tobacco consumption, alcoholism, BMI >25 kg//m2, less consumption of fruits and vegetables.

Conclusions Awareness of the hypertension status among hypertensive cases, counselling of the pre-hypertensives and hypertensives on lifestyle modification as well as regular treatment of antihypertensive medicine were key recommendations to prevent hypertension.