Adediran Olufemi Sola, Okpara Ihunanya Chinyere, Adeniyi Olasupo Stephen, Jimoh Ahmed Kayode
As a result of changing trends in the epidemiology of hypertension and its adverse consequences, there is a need for regular surveillance on the pre valence of hypertension in order to implement effective control strategies. This study aims at de scribing the prevalence of hypertension amongst the urban and rural dwellers in Federal Capital Territo ry (FCT) – Abuja – Nigeria. A stratified randomly selected population from households of urban and ru ral dwellers were screened for hypertension and its risk factors by a pretested, structured questio nnaire and clinical examination. Hypertension was defined as systolic blood pressure (SBP) ≥ 140 and/ or diastolic blood pressure ≥ 90mmHg or being on drug therapy for hypertension. The overall prevalen ce of hypertension in the study was 22.7%. Hypertension was more prevalent in the urban than r ural dwellers with rates of 32.7% and 12.9% respectively (p<0.001). Amongst the risk factors f or hypertension obesity measured by WC showed the strongest correlation with SBP and DBP (r = 0.4 63, p < 0.001 and r = 0.372 p < 0.001) respectively . There is a rising trend in the prevalence of hypert ension. Hypertension is more prevalent in the urban than rural areas and this is attributable to obesit y.
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