PREVALENCE AND RISK-FACTORS OF HYPERTENSION AND AGE-SPECIFIC BLOOD PRESSURES IN 5 CITIES - A STUDY OF INDIAN WOMEN

Objective: To measure the prevalence of hypertension and age-specific blood pressure in urban populations from five Indian cities. Cross-sec tional surveys were conducted in six-twenty urban streets in different cities from five different corners of India, using similar methods of sample selection and criteria. There were 3212 randomly selected wome n from Moradabad (n=902), Trivandrum (n=760), Calcutta (n=365), Nagpur (n=405) and Bombay (n=780), aged 25-64 years, inclusive. Evaluation w as by a physician and a dietitian, an administered questionnaire, a ph ysical examination and using a sphygmomanometer, The diagnosis of hype rtension was based on old World Health Organisation criteria and new W orld Health Organisation/International Society of Hypertension criteri a. The prevalence of hypertension (>140/90 mm Hg) was significantly (P <0.01) high in Trivandrum, South India (30.7%), and Bombay, West India (28.0%), compared to Moradabad, which is in northern India (22.6%), N agpur, in central India (24.2%), and Calcutta, in east India (19.1%). Mean systolic and diastolic blood pressures were significantly higher in Trivandrum and Bombay compared to the other three cities. The overa ll prevalence of hypertension was 25.6% (n=823) and isolated diastolic hypertension was the most common form of hypertension (50.5%, n=1506) in the five Indian cities. According to old criteria, the overall pre valence of hypertension (>160/95 mm Hg) was 14.8% (n=481). Multivariat e logistic regression analysis on pooled data from the five cities, af ter adjustment for age, showed that age (odds ratio 1.16), body mass i ndex (1.68) and obesity were strongly associated with hypertension. A sedentary lifestyle and salt intake were weakly associated and alcohol intake was not a factor with these women. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science I reland Ltd.