Abstract
BackgroundHypertension has been identified as the single greatest contributor to the global burden of disease and mortality, with estimates suggesting that the highest levels of blood pressure have shifted from high-income countries to low-income countries in sub-Saharan Africa. While evidence suggests a remarkably high prevalence of hypertension among urban residents in Namibia, national estimates to inform on the country-level burden are lacking. This study estimates the prevalence and predictors of hypertension among Namibian adults.MethodsThe analysis is based on 1,795 women and 1,273 men aged 35–64 years from the nationally-representative 2013 Namibia Demographic and Health Survey. Odds radios and 95% confidence intervals were estimated using logistic regression.ResultsThe age-standardized prevalence of hypertension was 46.0% (men vs. women: 46.1% vs. 46.0%). Mean systolic and diastolic blood pressures for the total population were 128.8 mmHg (95% CI 127.8–129.7) and 83.1 mmHg (95% CI 82.5–83.7), respectively. Mean systolic blood pressure was significantly lower among women (men vs. women: 130.9 mmHg vs. 127.4 mmHg; p<0.001). There were no statistically significant differences in mean diastolic blood pressure between men and women. Older age, urban residence, and being either overweight or obese were positively associated with the odds of hypertension (p<0.01). For women, the odds of hypertension were also significantly increased for those who were diabetic (i.e. had a fasting blood glucose level greater than 7.0 mmol/L) and reduced for those with higher levels of education.ConclusionThe prevalence of hypertension among Namibian adults is high and associated with metabolic and socio-demographic factors. Future research examining disease comorbidity and behavioral risk factors could better inform on the disease burden and help target resources to optimize prevention and control.
Highlights
Raised blood pressure, or hypertension, has been identified as the greatest single contributor to the global burden of disease and mortality, with an effect that is largely mediated through coronary heart disease and stroke, and noted to be responsible for 9.4 million deaths each year [1,2,3,4]
Mean systolic blood pressure was significantly lower among women
Urban residence, and being either overweight or obese were positively associated with the odds of hypertension (p
Summary
Hypertension, has been identified as the greatest single contributor to the global burden of disease and mortality, with an effect that is largely mediated through coronary heart disease and stroke, and noted to be responsible for 9.4 million deaths each year [1,2,3,4]. A pooled analysis of worldwide trends in blood pressure from 1975 to 2015 shows that the highest levels of blood pressure worldwide have shifted from high-income countries to low-income countries in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) [3]. This changing circumstance is of great concern in SSA, given the dual burden of communicable and non-communicable diseases (NCDs) with which many resource-constrained countries in the region must contend [2,4,5,6,7]. Hypertension has been identified as the single greatest contributor to the global burden of disease and mortality, with estimates suggesting that the highest levels of blood pressure have shifted from high-income countries to low-income countries in sub-Saharan Africa. This study estimates the prevalence and predictors of hypertension among Namibian adults
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