Prevalence and incident prehypertension and hypertension in postmenopausal Hispanic women: results from the Women's Health Initiative.
BACKGROUND
There is a paucity of research on prehypertension and incident hypertension among postmenopausal Hispanic women. The overall objective is to determine the multiple risk factors associated with the prevalence of hypertension status at baseline and incident hypertension at year 3 in postmenopausal Hispanic women.


METHODS
For the analyses in this paper, we included a total of 4,680 Hispanic women who participated in the Women's Health Initiative (WHI), a randomized clinical trial and observational study, at baseline (1994-1998) and at third-year follow-up and for whom blood pressure was measured at year 3 (n = 3,848). Multivariable logistic regression models were used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of hypertension status, defined as systolic blood pressure ≥140 mm Hg and/or diastolic blood pressure ≥90 mm Hg, to assess the odds of incident hypertension at year 3 of follow-up in association with the factors included in the baseline models.


RESULTS
At year 3 of follow-up, 27.3% of Hispanic women who were normotensive at baseline had progressed to prehypertension, and 9.0% had become hypertensive. Among the prehypertensive participants at baseline, 30.4% had progressed to hypertension. Compared with normotensive Hispanic women, hypertensive participants had a higher number of cardiovascular risk factors: body mass index ≥30 kg/m(2) (OR = 3.76; 95% CI = 3.01-4.71), a family history of diabetes, stroke, and/or myocardial infarction (OR = 1.12; 95% CI 1.03-1.23), treated hypercholesterolemia (OR = 1.57; 95% CI = 1.23-1.99), treated diabetes (OR = 2.04; 95% CI = 1.40-2.97), and a history of cardiovascular disease (OR = 2.04; 95% CI = 1.58-2.64).


CONCLUSIONS
Hispanic women seem to experience an increased risk of incident hypertension in later adulthood. On a practical level, recommendations for preventive care and population-wide adoption of health behaviors, such as community-focused campaigns to engage in physical activity, may contribute to reductions in hypertension risk factors.


BACKGROUND
Trial Number NCT00000611.
Department of Women's Studies, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland.
Ruth E
RE
Zambrana
Lenny
L
López
Gniesha Y
GY
Dinwiddie
Roberta M
RM
Ray
Lawrence S
LS
Phillips
Maurizio
M
Trevisan
Sylvia
S
Wassertheil-Smoller
D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D000367:Age Factors; D001794:Blood Pressure; D018450:Disease Progression; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006973:Hypertension / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000208:ethnology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000517:prevention & control; D015994:Incidence; D016015:Logistic Models; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D016017:Odds Ratio; D017698:Postmenopause / Q000208:ethnology; D058246:Prehypertension / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000208:ethnology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000517:prevention & control; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D040242:Risk Reduction Behavior; D012737:Sex Factors; D013997:Time Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D016387:Women's Health; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D064887:Observational Studies as Topic; D015337:Multicenter Studies as Topic
Hispanic; Women’s Health Initiative; blood pressure; cardiovascular risk; hypertension; postmenopausal; women