Prevalence and Associated Factors of Hypertension: A Crossectional Community Based Study in Northwest Ethiopia
April
Prevalence and Associated Factors of Hypertension: A Crossectional Community Based Study in Northwest Ethiopia
Solomon Mekonnen Abebe 0 1 2
Yemane Berhane 0 1 2
Alemayehu Worku 0 1 2
Assefa Getachew 0 1 2
0 Funding: Partial funding for this study was received from the World Health Organization and the Addis Continental Institute of Public Health. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript
1 Academic Editor: Yan Li, Shanghai Institute of Hypertension , CHINA
2 1 Institute of Public health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia, 2 Addis Continental Institute of Public Health , Addis Ababa , Ethiopia , 3 School of Public Health, Addis Ababa University , Addis Ababa , Ethiopia , 4 School of Medicine, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Gondar , Gondar , Ethiopia
Hypertension, being the root cause of many of the body sytem and organs failure, remains to be a major public health challenge globally. Though the problem is huge in both developed and developing countries, data are scarce in developing countries like Ethiopia. Therefore, this study was aimed to determine the magnitude and associated factors of hypertension in North West Ethiopia.
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A cross-sectional survey was conducted on adults aged 35 years and above in the rural and
urban communities of Dabat district and Gondar town in 2012. The data were collected
using the WHO STEPwise strategy. Hypertension was defined as having a Systolic blood
pressure of 140 mmHg and/ or a Diastolic BP of 90mmHg or a reported use of
anti-hypertensive medications for raised blood pressure. Prevalence was computed with a 95%
confidence interval. Selected risk factors were assessed using a biviarete
logistic regression.
A total of 2200 participants were included in the study. The median age (SD) was 47
(12.4) years. The overall prevalence of hypertension was found to be 27.9% [95% CI 26.0,
29.8], with the proportion in the urban and rural residents being 30.7% and 25.3%
respectively. The prevalence of hypertension was 29.3% for women and 26.3% for men. Out of the
598 hypertensive patients 241 (40.3%) had blood pressure measurements, and 99 (16.6%)
had known hypertension and were on treatment. The proportion of systolic and diastolic
hypertension in this subgroup of adults was 133(6.2%). The multivariable logistic regression
analysis showed older age (AOR = 1.06; 1.05, 1.07), raised fasting glucose (AOR = 1.01;
1.001, 1.01), alcohol consumption (AOR = 1.71; 1.24, 2.36), and raised BMI (AOR =1.07;
1.04, 1.10) were significantly associated with hypertension.
The prevalence of hypertension was considerably higher in rural areas than previously
reported. The health system needs to develop strategies to increase the reach of relevant
screening and diagnostic services to both rural and urban populations.
Hypertension is a worldwide public-health challenge and a leading modifiable risk factor for
cardiovascular disease (CVD) and death. According to the WHO Global Health Observary
Report, globally, the overall prevalence of Hypertension in adults aged 25 and over was around
40% in 2008 and was is estimated to cause 7.5 million deaths, about 12.8% of the total of all
deaths worldwide. Globally the number of people with uncontrolled hypertension rose by 70%
between 1980 and 2008. The rising epidemic of hypertension is thought to be due to
mechanization, population growth and ageing [1],[2].
There has been a wide range of prevalence of hypertension around the world, with the
lowest prevalence in rural India (3.4% in men and 6.8% in women) and the highest prevalence
(78%) for South Africa and Poland (68.9% in men and 72.5% in women). Similarly the
prevalence of hypertension is rising among older adults in Sub-Saharan Africa [3,4].
Current disease estimates for Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are based on sparse data, but
projections indicate increases in non-communicable diseases (NCDs) caused by demographic and
epidemiologic transitions; however, hypertension control assumes a relatively low priority and
little experience exists in implementing sustainable and successful programs. There is a wide
disparity (0.4 to 43%) in the prevalence of hypertension and obesity in Sub-Saharan Africa [5].
A study conducted in Ethiopia in the last decade showed that the prevalence of CVD risk
factor increased rapidly [6]. A study done on Gondar city of Ethiopia showed a 28.3%
prevalence of hypertension [7]. A similar study done on urban Commercial Bank employees in
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, showed a 19.1% prevalence of hypertension which indicated a wide
disparity in magnitude due to the significance of lifestyle for hypertension etiology [8].
The prevention and control of hypertension has not received due attention in Ethiopia
compared with other computing diseases (HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria). Recent evidences
indicate that hypertension (...truncated)