Prevalence and determinants of Systemic Hypertension in Inhabitants of high altitude of Nepal

Abstract

Background: Several studies have shown increase in prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors in the individuals residing in high altitude in various parts of the world.
 Aims and Objective: This study was conducted with an aim to estimate the prevalence and determinants of hypertension among the high-altitude population of Jomsom district of Nepal.
 Materials and Methods: We carried out a prospective camp based survey in Jomsom area on 4th and 5th June of 2017 where we measured the blood pressure, recorded anthropometric measurements like weight, height, BMI, Waist, Hip, Waist/hip ratio and maintained the thorough recorded after verbal consent of the participants.
 Results: A total of 617 local residents of Jomsom were screened. The mean age was 44.4±17. 6 years with predominant female subjects (53.5% female vs. 46.5% male). Hypertension was present in 142(23.0%) which was significantly lower than in the general population of Nepal as compared to other large scale studies. In addition, alcohol consumption in 29.3%, cigarette smoking in 15.9% and tobacco consumption in 8.3% was present. Higher BMI and waist/hip ratio was significantly associated with male sex and hypertension
 Conclusion: The overall prevalence of hypertension is lower among the individuals residing in higher altitude compared to the general population although the other determinants are comparable.

Prevalence and determinants of diabetes mellitus in high altitude: A cross sectional study in mountainous region of Nepal

“…A total of 6.7% of Nepalese population reside in mountains whereas globally only about 2% of the population reside at an altitude of 2500 meters or more. 2 In the recent decades, diabetes mellitus has been a significant burden to health care system throughout the world and its prevalence is increasing in countries of all economic levels.…”