Background Prevention and control of hypertension has not been given due attention though previous studies indicated that hypertension is growing public health problem. Objective This study aimed to determine the prevalence of hypertension and associated factors in Bona district, southern Ethiopia. Methods A community based cross-sectional study was conducted on 1952 participants aged ≥25 years in Bona District, southern Ethiopia. Data were collected from consented participants recruited using multistage sampling technique. Data were entered, checked for quality and analyzed by SPSS for Windows version 20.0. Since the outcome variables were ordered categorical, we used multinomial logistic regression model to identify associated factors. Among the independent variables included in the model no multicolinearity was observed. The level of significance was set at P value ≤ 0.05. Results The observed prevalence of hypertension (21.8%) was remarkable in rural setting. Out of hypertensive participants, 195 (45.9%) were newly diagnosed. About one third of the participants (31.4%) had central obesity measured by waist-to-height ratio ≥0.50. Being male, age advancement, high BMI (≥25.0 kg/m 2 ) and central obesity (waist-to-height ratio ≥0.50) were positively associated with both systolic and diastolic hypertension. Systolic hypertension was negatively associated with high family income. The likely hood of developing diastolic hypertension increased in participants with family history of hypertension. Conclusion The overall prevalence of hypertension, 21.8%, is alarmingly high that it can be said that hypertension is becoming a silent epidemic in Ethiopia. Nationwide survey is needed to get the clear magnitude of hypertension so that early detection and management strategies can be enforced.

BACKGROUND: Like in all populations of the world, recently, diabetes became serious health problem in Ethiopian population, as indicated by few community- and institution-based studies. As high as 6.5% diabetes prevalence was reported in Addis Ababa while 5.1% in urban setting and 2.1% in rural setting of Northwest Ethiopia have been reported. This study aimed to provide additional data on the magnitude of diabetes and associated risk factors. The study aimed to determine the prevalence of diabetes in Bona District and identify contributing risk factors.METHODS AND MATERIALS: A cross-sectional community based survey for diabetes and associated factors was done from February-June, 2016 on a total of 2670 participants in the age range of 15-110 years. Participants were recruited to the study by using a two-stage simple random sampling technique. Data were collected by using structured questionnaire from consented participants. Data were entered, checked for quality and analyzed using SPSS for Windows version 20.0. Since the outcome variable was ordered categorical, we used ordinal regression model to identify associated factors. There was no multicollinearity among the independent variables included in the model. All the independent variables with p<0.25 during bivariate analysis wereincluded in the multivariate model. The level of significance wasset at P value < 0.05.RESULTS: The overall prevalence of diabetes (1.9%) from our survey was so high in rural setting that prevention and control mechanisms should be designed. The risk factors include advanced age (β=1.04(0.57-1.50)), systolic hypertension (β=0.59(0.01-1.18)), high waist circumference (β=0.86(0.34-1.39)) and postsecondary education (β=0.87(0.03-1.71)).KEYWORD: Diabetes, prevalence, risk factors