Abstract
BackgroundAccording to a report on the worldwide trends in blood pressure from 1975 to 2015, mean blood pressure is increasing in low and middle income countries while it is either decreasing or stabilizing in high income countries. Few studies have been published on the prevalence of hypertension in Ethiopia demonstrating an increased trend; however, these studies had small sample size and were limited to participants older than 35 years; which left the burden among adolescents and young adults unaddressed. The aim of this study was to assess prevalence of hypertension (HTN) and associated factors in Gondar city.MethodA population based cross-sectional study was conducted among 3227 individuals in Gondar city. A multistage cluster random sampling was used. The Kish method from World Health Organization (WHO) STEPS instrument of random sampling method was used for selecting one individual older than or equal to 18 years from each household. WHO and International Diabetic Association (IDA) criterion was used to classify HTN.ResultThe overall prevalence of HTN was 27. 4% [95% CI: (25. 8–28.9)]. The prevalence for participants in the age group of ≥35 years was 36. 1%. It consistently increased from 9.5% in the age group of 18–25 years to 46.3% in the age group of ≥65 years (P-value < 0. 001). Only 47% of the participants had ever had any kind of blood pressure measurement. Being elderly (AOR = 5. 56; 95% CI: 3. 71–8. 35), obese (AOR =2. 62; 95%CI: 1. 70–4. 03), widowed (AOR = 1. 87; 95%CI: 1. 27–2. 75), separated (AOR = 1. 87; 95%CI: 1. 27–2. 75), daily alcohol user (AOR = 1. 51; 95%CI: 1. 02–2. 23), male gender (AOR = 1. 42; 95%CI: 1. 18–1. 72) and born in urban area (AOR = 1. 31; 95%CI: 1. 10–1. 56) were found to be independently associated with HTN.ConclusionThere is a high prevalence of hypertension in Gondar city and is showing increasing trend compared to previous reports. Interventions to raise awareness and to improve both capacity and accessibility of facilities for screening hypertension are highly recommended.
Highlights
According to a report on the worldwide trends in blood pressure from 1975 to 2015, mean blood pressure is increasing in low and middle income countries while it is either decreasing or stabilizing in high income countries
There is a high prevalence of hypertension in Gondar city and is showing increasing trend compared to previous reports
About 53% of the participants did not have any kind of formal education
Summary
According to a report on the worldwide trends in blood pressure from 1975 to 2015, mean blood pressure is increasing in low and middle income countries while it is either decreasing or stabilizing in high income countries. 8 million of the global disability adjusted life years(DALYs) [1] It was the most common risk factor for death due to Demisse et al BMC Public Health (2017) 17:647. Hypertension was among the major risk factors for cardiovascular disease in Africa and was found to be associated with high mortality [4]. In Ethiopia, non-communicable diseases including hypertension were not given as much attention as communicable diseases in the past. This was in part due to the reported low prevalence of hypertension in older studies ranging between 0.4 and 11% [8,9,10]. A study conducted in Addis Ababa to evaluate the causes of death in hospitals during 2002–2010 found out that cardiovascular disorders accounted for 11% of the total deaths which was equivalent with deaths from HIV/AIDS [14]
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