title: Prevalence of hypertension and diabetes among Ethiopian adults.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the prevalence of hypertension and diabetes among members of an Ethiopian occupational cohort; and to examine the proportion of adults who were aware of their conditions.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 2153 of subjects were included in this cross-sectional study. The World Health Organization STEPwise approach for non-communicable diseases was used to collect socio-demographic data, blood pressure measures and blood samples from participants. Prevalence estimates for hypertension and diabetes were determined separately. The 95% confidence intervals for prevalence estimates were also determined.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The overall prevalence of hypertension was 19.1% (95%CI: 17.1-20.8) and 22% (95%CI: 20.2-23.8) and 14.9% (95%CI: 13.4-16.4) among men and women respectively. The overall prevalence of diabetes was 6.5% (95%CI: 5.4-7.6) and 6.4% (95%CI: 5.0-7.8) and 6.6% (95%CI: 4.8-8.4) among men and women correspondingly. Notably, 15% of hypertensives reported never having had their blood pressure checked prior to the present study examination. Approximately 45% of participants who had their blood pressure checked were never diagnosed with hypertension, but were found to be hypertensive in our study. Approximately 27% of newly diagnosed diabetics (during this study) reported never having a previous blood glucose test. Among those who had their blood glucose assessed prior to this study, 17.4% were found to have diabetes but were never diagnosed.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The high prevalence of hypertension and diabetes reported in our study confirms findings from other Sub-Saharan Africa countries, and extends the literature to urban dwelling Ethiopians where non-communicable diseases are emerging as a major public health concern.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Multidisciplinary International Research Training Program, University of Washington School of Public Health, Seattle, WA, USA.
authors.forename: Lemba D
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Nshisso
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Reese
authors.forename: Bizu
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gelaye
authors.forename: Sebelewengel
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lemma
authors.forename: Yemane
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Berhane
authors.forename: Michelle A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Williams
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000032:analysis; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D015897:Comorbidity; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004651:Employment; D005002:Ethiopia / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009787:Occupational Medicine; D015995:Prevalence; D014504:Urban Health; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose