The prevalence of Hypertension and its Association with Age, Sex and BMI in a Population Being Educated Using Community-Based Medicine in Kermanshah: 2003

Hypertension due to its high prevalence and its relation to cardiac disease is considered a major problem in industrialized countries its prevalence varies in different countries and in various regions within a country. The purpose of the present study is to determine the size of the problem and its distribution in a study population being educated using community-based medicine in Kermanshah in 2005. For the study, 8495 persons (1957 families) were randomly selected as the subjects they were medically examined by a team including two general practitioners and a health worker, and were evaluated for blood pressure, height and weight, history of high blood pressure and taking of anti-hypertension drugs the 5147 subjects were aged over 15-years. Each subject\'s blood pressure were recorded once in sitting position using a sphygmomanometer. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (frequency percentage, mean, standard deviation) and inferential statistics (T-test and Chi Square). The 5147 participants (56.9% females and 43.1% males) had an average age of 34.4±15.1 years. A prevalence of stage 1 & 2 hypertension 14.3% (14.1% in males and 13.7% in females) and prehypertension prevalence of 15.8% was reported. The prevalence of high blood pressure was 60.7% among 65-year-olds. The average systolic pressure and diastolic pressure were reported to be 117.5±18.3 and 74.5±13.6 respectively. The average systolic and diastolic pressure in males were significantly different from that of females (P=0.0001).There was a significant relation between age increase and prevalence of high blood pressure. Also, an increase in BMI showed a significant increase in blood pressure. A high prevalence of elevated blood pressure was documented in this population of Kermanshah obesity and old age were observed to be the interventional risk factors accompanying high blood pressure.