BLOOD PRESSURE PATTERN AND VARIATIONS IN A PREDOMINANTLY FARMING RURAL REGION IN SOUTH-WEST NIGERIA

Abstract

Objective: The prevalence of high blood pressure in rural communities has been on the rise as reported in many previous studies. A number of factors are implicated in these studies including dietary habits, smoking and alcohol use. In this cross sectional descriptive study we evaluated blood pressure pattern in a predominantly farming rural region comprising three communities, as well as intercommunity variation of blood pressure. Design and method: A total of 572 rural dwellers were studied. An interviewer administered questionnaire was used to obtain information from the participants on socio-demographic data. Blood pressure was measured twice after 5 minutes interval in accordance with WHO guidelines. Height and weight were recorded for BMI calculation. Data was analysed using SPSS version 2018. Results: Four hundred and thirty three (76%) participants were not aware whether they were hypertensive or not, while 139 (24%) were aware and using medications. Only 47 (7.2%) of participants ever had their BP checked at home. Using the WHO cut-off of 140/90mmHg for the diagnosis of hypertension, 315 (55%) had normal BP <140/90; 134 (23%) had both systolic and diastolic BP above cut-off values, 98 (17%) had only systolic elevation, while 25 (4.4%) had only diastolic BP elevation. Among those with elevated systolic pressure alone (n = 98) 28 (28.6%), and 70 (71.4%) either knew they were hypertensive and using medications, or did not know and were not on any medication respectively. Similarly among those with elevated diastolic BP alone (n = 25) only 6 (24%) knew they were hypertensive and were on medications while 19 (76%) did not know they were hypertensive and were not on any medication. BMI did not vary significantly among the various communities, and did not show any significant effect on blood pressure in all the communities. Conclusions: The overall crude prevalence of high blood pressure in this study was high and seemed to be in consonance with some previous rural community studies. There is need for more intensified blood pressure awareness campaign and treatment services to rural community dwellers in Nigeria.