title: The prevalence of and risk factors for hypertension in adults living in central development region of Nepal.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Hypertension is the commonest cardiovascular disorder and now regarded as major public health problem. It is a precursor to major diseases like myocardial infarction, stroke, renal failure etc. There are very limited community based data on hypertension in Nepal, so, information on the prevalence of hypertension in the population is desirable.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To estimate the prevalence of hypertension and to explore the risk factors associated with hypertension.
  
  
  METHODS
  In a cross sectional study , a total of 527 subjects (males n=214 and females n=313) participated in our study (age =18 years). The participants underwent anthropometric measurement and blood pressure and answered a pretested questionnaire. Hypertension was defined as per JNC VII criteria.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall prevalence of hypertension was 22.4% (males: 32.7% and female: 15.3%). Age specific prevalence of hypertension showed significant progressive increase in blood pressure ranging from 8% to 35%. Almost 40% of hypertensives did not know about their status. Bivariate analysis showed significant relationship of hypertension with gender, age, literacy, physical inactivity, body mass index (BMI), smoking and alcohol consumption. Multivariate analysis excluded literacy but all other risk factors continued to show positive association with hypertension.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Being elderly, less physical activity, obese/overweight, smoking and alcohol consumption are significant risk factors of hypertension. Therefore, intervention measures are warranted emphasizing on modifiable risk factors such as smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity and obesity to prevent hypertension.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, Kathmandu University School of Medical Sciences, Dhulikhel, Nepal. jagdish_chataut@yahoo.com
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chataut
authors.forename: R K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Adhikari
authors.forename: N P
authors.initials: NP
authors.lastname: Sinha
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001794:Blood Pressure; D001837:Body Weights and Measures; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009390:Nepal / Q000453:epidemiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D055815:Young Adult