Prevalence and determinants of pre-hypertension and hypertension among the adults in rural Bangladesh: findings from a community-based study

Abstract

BackgroundThe people of low and middle income countries bear about 80% of the global burden of diseases that are attributable to high blood pressure. Hypertensive people contribute half of this burden; the rest is among the people with lesser degrees of high blood pressure. Prehypertension elevates the risk of CVD, and that of end-stage renal disease. Bangladesh is a developing country, with more than 75% of the population live in rural area. This study aims to determine the prevalence and predictors of pre-hypertension and hypertension among the adults in rural Bangladesh.MethodsA cross-sectional study of major non-communicable disease risk factors (tobacco and alcohol use, fruit and vegetable intake, physical activity) was conducted in rural surveillance sites of Bangladesh. In addition to the self-reported information on risk factors, height and weight, and blood pressure were measured during household visits using standard protocols of the WHO STEPwise approach to Surveillance. The study population included 6,094 men and women aged 25 years and above. Adjusted and unadjusted logistic regression analyses were performed to evaluate the association of prehypertension and hypertension with various factors.ResultsThe prevalence of pre-hypertension and hypertension was 31.9% and 16.0%, respectively. The men had a higher prevalence (33.6%) of pre-hypertension compared to the women (30.3%). Multivariate analysis showed that increasing age [OR 2.30 (1.84-2.87)] and higher BMI [OR 4.67 (3.35-6.51) were positively associated with pre-hypertension. For hypertension, multivariate analysis showed that increasing age [OR 4.48 (3.38-5.94)] and higher BMI (specially the overweight category) was positively associated.Significant linear relationships of prehypertension were found with age [P for trend < 0.0001] and BMI [P for trend < 0.0001]. Linear regression for hypertension shows significant association with age [P for trend < 0.0001] but not with BMI [P for trend 0.3783].ConclusionApproximately one third and one-sixth of the adult population of rural Bangladesh are affected with pre-hypertension and hypertension, respectively. This poses a great challenge ahead, as most of the people with pre-hypertension will progress towards hypertension until otherwise undergo in any pharmacological or lifestyle intervention.

Prevalence and Associated Factors of Hypertension among Adults in Rural Nepal: A Community Based Study

“…10,16 Studies from other parts of the world report prevalence of hypertension to be lower than our findings. [17][18][19] Our study found the prevalence of hypertension was significantly higher among the males compared to females (p<0.001) which is consistent with other findings, 15,20,21 whereas others report higher prevalence of hypertension in females and difference was significant. 17 Our findings reveal that 46.6% of the study subjects were pre-hypertensive.…”

Prevalence of hypertension in an urban area: a community-based survey in Trichy, Tamilnadu, India

“…Prehypertension is now recognized as an important candidate for cardiovascular intervention and risk reduction. 10 Numerous studies have been undertaken to assess the prevalence of hypertension. This study has assessed the prevalence of hypertension and also looks at the age profile of hypertensives and how blood pressure differs between the sexes.…”

Cardiovascular Disease in Bangladesh: A Review

“…The reported prevalence varies widely from 1.21% to 32%. 11,16,[18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35] (Table 2). According to the Bangladesh NCD Risk Factor Survey 2010 27 , the prevalence of hypertension is 17.9% in general, 18.5% in men and 17.3% in women.…”