title: Prevalence of prehypertension in young military adults & its association with overweight & dyslipidaemia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Estimation of prevalence of prehypertension in a population and its association with risk factors of cardiovascular disease is important to design preventive programmes. This cross-sectional study was carried out in a healthy military population to assess the prevalence of prehypertension and its association with risk factors such as overweight, abdominal adiposity and dyslipidaemia.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study included 767 participants (130 officers and 637 from other ranks). The blood pressure, serum triglycerides and serum cholesterol (total, HDL and LDL) were assessed along with anthropometric measurements such as height, weight, waist-hip ratio in apparently healthy military personnel. Information on smoking, alcohol intake, dietary habits and physical activity was collected using pretested questionnaire. Prehypertension was defined as systolic blood pressure (SBP) 120-139 mm Hg and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) 80-89 mm Hg.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The overall prevalence of prehypertension was high (about 80%). The prevalence of other risk factors such as overweight (BMI>23 kg/m²), serum total cholesterol > 200 mg/dl, serum LDL cholesterol > 130 mg/dl, serum HDL cholesterol <40 mg/dl, serum triglyceride > 150 mg/dl in the total group was 30, 22, 22, 67, and 14 per cent, respectively. Most of the personnel undertook moderate or heavy exercise. A significantly higher proportion of individuals with prehypertension had clinical and behavioural risk factors such as overweight, dyslipidaemia and adverse dietary practices like saturated fat and added salt intake. On multivariate logistic regression analysis, prehypertension had significant positive association with BMI>23 kg/m² (OR 1.75), age (OR 1.89), serum triglyceride >150 mg/dl (OR 2.25)and serum HDL cholesterol <40 mg/dl (OR 1.51).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The high prevalence of prehypertension and its association with overweight and dyslipidaemia in this young, physically active military population indicates an urgent need for targeted interventions to reduce the cardiovascular risk.
authors.affiliation: Central Government, Integrated Headquarters, Ministry of Defence (N), New Delhi, India. ougatray@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Sougat
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ray
authors.forename: Bharati
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kulkarni
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sreenivas
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology; D001794:Blood Pressure; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015984:Causality; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL / Q000097:blood; D008078:Cholesterol, LDL / Q000097:blood; D015897:Comorbidity; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D050171:Dyslipidemias / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015444:Exercise; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D056128:Obesity, Abdominal / Q000453:epidemiology*; D050177:Overweight / Q000453:epidemiology*; D058246:Prehypertension / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000097:blood; D049629:Waist-Hip Ratio
chemical_list: D008076:Cholesterol, HDL; D008078:Cholesterol, LDL; D014280:Triglycerides; D002784:Cholesterol