PREVALENCE AND PREDICTORS OF HYPERTENSION AMONG ADULTS ATTENDING A MEDICAL OUTPATIENT DEPARTMENT: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY
Keywords:
hypertension, prevalence, predictors, blood pressure, obesity, outpatientAbstract
Background: Hypertension is the leading modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease and is rising across India with the epidemiological transition. Measuring its prevalence and predictors in outpatient populations, with standardised two-visit ascertainment, supports early detection. Objectives: To estimate the prevalence of hypertension among adults attending a medical outpatient department and to identify demographic, anthropometric and behavioural predictors.
Methods: A cross-sectional study of 100 adults recorded demographics, behavioural and anthropometric measures, comorbidities and standardised blood pressure (BP) over two visits. Hypertension was defined as mean BP ≥140/90 mmHg on both visits or current antihypertensive use. Associations used the chi-square test, independent t test and odds ratios. Results: Participants (mean age 52.1 ± 20.5 years; equal sex distribution) had a hypertension prevalence of 49.0%, comprising known (24%) and newly ascertained (25%) disease. Prevalence rose steeply with age — 19.0% at 18–30 years to 77.5% at >60 years. Hypertensive participants were older (62.6 vs 42.1 years; p < 0.001) and had higher BMI (26.2 vs 24.2 kg/m²; p = 0.009) and waist circumference (89.4 vs 84.0 cm; p = 0.004). Frequent added salt, diabetes and higher BMI were associated with higher prevalence without reaching significance in this sample. Among known hypertensives with recorded control, a proportion were uncontrolled at visit 1. Conclusion: Nearly half of outpatient adults were hypertensive, half of them previously undiagnosed, with age and adiposity the strongest predictors. The large newly ascertained fraction supports routine opportunistic BP screening and attention to weight and central obesity
Downloads
References
1. Anchala R, Kannuri NK, Pant H, Khan H, Franco OH, Di Angelantonio E, et al. Hypertension in India: a systematic review and meta-analysis of prevalence, awareness, and control of hypertension. J Hypertens. 2014;32(6):1170–1177. doi:10.1097/HJH.0000000000000146
2. Neupane D, McLachlan CS, Sharma R, Gyawali B, Khanal V, Mishra SR, et al. Prevalence of hypertension in member countries of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC): systematic review and meta-analysis. Medicine (Baltimore). 2014;93(13):e74. doi:10.1097/MD.0000000000000074
3. Deshmukh PR, Gupta SS, Dongre AR, Bharambe MS, Maliye C, Kaur S, et al. Relationship of anthropometric indicators with blood pressure levels in rural Wardha. Indian J Med Res. 2006;123(5):657–664.
4. Tselha N, Shimrah C, Kulshreshtha M, Devi NK. Association between hypertension and adiposity indicators: a study among the Muslim population of Uttar Pradesh. Diabetes Metab Syndr. 2019;13(4):2335–2338. doi:10.1016/j.dsx.2019.05.016
5. Patel JC. Obesity: effective and safe management. Indian J Med Sci. 2000;54(11):499–507.
6. Jayawardena R, Ranasinghe P, Byrne NM, Soares MJ, Katulanda P, Hills AP. Prevalence and trends of the diabetes epidemic in South Asia: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Public Health. 2012;12:380. doi:10.1186/1471-2458-12-380
7. Valamparampil MJ, Mohan A, Jose C, Sadheesan DK, Aby JJ, Vasudevakaimal P, et al. Role of geographic information system in assessing determinants of cardiovascular disease: an experience from a low- and middle-income country. Asia Pac J Public Health. 2018;30(4):351–360. doi:10.1177/1010539518768333
8. Fowkes FGR, Rudan D, Rudan I, Aboyans V, Denenberg JO, McDermott MM, et al. Comparison of global estimates of prevalence and risk factors for peripheral artery disease in 2000 and 2010: a systematic review and analysis. Lancet. 2013;382(9901):1329–1340. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(13)61249-0
9. Patel A, Bharani A, Sharma M, Bhagwat A, Ganguli N, Chouhan DS. Prevalence of hypertension and prehypertension in schoolchildren from Central India. Ann Pediatr Cardiol. 2019;12(2):90–96. doi:10.4103/apc.APC_13_18
10. Geldsetzer P, Manne-Goehler J, Theilmann M, Davies JI, Awasthi A, Vollmer S, Jaacks LM, Bärnighausen T, Atun R. Diabetes and hypertension in India: a nationally representative study of 1.3 million adults. JAMA internal medicine. 2018 Mar;178(3):363-72.
11. Ramakrishnan S, Zachariah G, Gupta K, Rao JS, Mohanan PP, Venugopal K, Sateesh S, Sethi R, Jain D, Bardolei N, Mani K. Prevalence of hypertension among Indian adults: Results from the great India blood pressure survey. Indian heart journal. 2019 Jul 1;71(4):309-13.
12. Anchala R, Kannuri NK, Pant H, Khan H, Franco OH, Di Angelantonio E, Prabhakaran D. Hypertension in India: a systematic review and meta-analysis of prevalence, awareness, and control of hypertension. Journal of hypertension. 2014 Apr 30;32(6):1170.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
You are free to:
- Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format
- Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.
Terms:
- Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
- No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
