The prevalence of hypertension and its association with other cardiovascular disease risk factors in a representative sample of the Lebanese population

Abstract

Hypertension is a well-known major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. This study has been designed to assess the prevalence of hypertension, its cooccurrence with other cardiovascular risk factors and its association with cardiovascular diseases in a representative sample of Lebanese population. A pretested questionnaire was administered to 2125 adults aged equal or above 30 years old from all regions in Lebanon and proportionate with the respective population density. Data revealed that 23.1% of the respondents admitted being hypertensive, with no statistically significant difference between male and female patients. Prevalence of hypertension increased with age (Po0.01) and hypertension tended to occur more in the less educated and the unemployed (Po0.01). Only 45.7% of hypertensive patients followed a low fat diet while 14.7% exercised daily. The prevalence of hypertension increased significantly with an increase in body mass index particularly in female patients. Among the hypertensive respondents, 23.9% were diabetic, 38.1% were hyperlipidaemic and 9.1% were both diabetic and hyperlipidaemic. Co-occurrence of hypertension with diabetes, hyperlipidaemia or both was more common in female patients compared to male patients. In addition, stroke, myocardial infarction (MI) and atherothrombosis occurred in hypertensive respondents at rates of 2.4, 4.3 and 9.5%, respectively. Hypertensive female patients reported more stroke and atherothrombotic episodes compared to male patients, whereas hypertensive male patients had more MIs. Based on these results it is very important to address the issue of lifestyle modification for the prevention and treatment of hypertension and awareness campaigns should stress the fact that cardiovascular diseases are not only restricted to men.

Socio-economic disparities in heart disease in the Republic of Lebanon: findings from a population-based study

“…This assumed that the majority of heart disease in the study population is coronary heart disease. While this might be a reasonable assumption based on available data,34 37–40 the uncovered associations might have been further weakened by grouping all types of heart disease under one category. The study did not examine gender differences in the association between heart disease and other variables.…”

Factors Associated With Hypertension Prevalence and Control Among Lebanese Type 2 Diabetic Patients

“…Moreover, two previous studies showed that among hypertensive Lebanese patients 23.9 % and 27% were diabetics respectively [16][17][18][19] and that more than half of the hypertensive diabetics had uncontrolled BP [19]. There are scant data on the prevalence of hypertension in T2DM Lebanese patients, their status concerning BP control and factors affecting it.…”

Polypharmacy Treatment of Hypertensionin Public Health Centers

“…Unaffordable prices for antihypertensive drugs were the reason for this high number of patients. Another previous study in Arab 11 stated that hypertension seems to cluster more among those who are unemployed (32.6%). In addition, stress due to a low or absent of income could also be a contributing factor to the development of high blood pressure either directly or indirectly by causing depression and anxiety.…”

“…The hypertension prevalence in males in this study is comparable to a study conducted in India, 10 where the prevalence of males having hypertension is higher than females. In a study in Arab, 11 there were 243 (52.4%) and 221 (47.6%) male and female hypertensive patients, respectively. Current evidence suggests that estrogen may modulate vascular endothelial function, resulting in vasodilation which, in women, may, in part, contribute to lower blood pressures.…”