Hypertension among adults in urban slums, a cross-sectional study in rajamahendravaram, Andhra Pradesh, India

Abstract

Introduction: Hypertension is becoming an increasingly common health problem worldwide. Hypertension is becoming a public health emergency worldwide, especially in developing countries. Aims and Objectives: To estimate the prevalence of hypertension among adults aged 20 years and above in the urban slums of Rajamahendravaram and to determine the risk factors associated with it. Materials and Methods: Community based Cross-sectional study conducted among adults in urban slums of Rajamahendravaram for six months from July 2018 to December 2018. Results: The study included 158 (47.9%) Males and 172(52.1%) Females. The prevalence of hypertension is 96(29.09%) with higher prevalence among women 51 (29.65%) than in men 45(28.48%). Hypertension was most commonly seen in the age group of 40 -49 years (55.17%) with statistically significant association between hypertension and increasing age (p=0.000). Hypertension was common in people of lower middle class (48%, p=0.0005). Also, people who used palm oil (100%, p=0.0000), common salt >1000 g/month (69.23%, p=0.000), Tobacco users (45.07%, p=0.000), diabetics (41%,p=0.000), obese (59.38%, p=0.000) and people with abdominal obesity (37.20%, p=0.001) showed higher prevalence of hypertension. Conclusions:The observed high prevalence of hypertension in this study and other studies reiterate the importance of hypertension as a public health problem. It's time to emphasize strict implementation of comprehensive national policy to control hypertension.