Hypertension, Prehypertension and Normotension among Police Personnel in a District of West Bengal, India.
OBJECTIVE
We conducted the present study to assess the prevalence of hypertension, prehypertension, normotension and the associated factors along with awareness, treatment and control of hypertension among police personnel in Bankura, West Bengal, India.


METHODS
We collected information on individual, lifestyle, service-related and anthropometric characteristics of 1817 police personnel. We also measured blood pressure (BP) and plasma glucose level of the participants. Individuals were classified as hypertensive (BP ≥ 140/ 90 mmHg), prehypertensive (BP 120-139/ 80-89 mmHg) and normotensive (BP < 120/ 80 mmHg) on the basis of BP and their prevalence were expressed in percentages. Relation of individual, lifestyle, service-related and anthropometric characteristics with hypertension and/or prehypertension was examined with binary logistic regression.


RESULTS
Prevalence of hypertension, prehypertension and normotension are 41.9%, 42.9% and 15.2% respectively. Even one-quarter of below 40 years subjects have hypertension. Mean BP remains in the prehypertensive range. Prevalence of hypertension and mean BP increases with age. Cardiovascular risk factors show clustering in higher age and with hypertension. Older age group, male gender, abdominal obesity, diabetes and service length are positively associated with hypertension and/or prehypertension. Around 40% of hypertensive knew their status, three-quarter of aware subjects received treatment and only one-third of treated subjects have controlled BP (< 140/ 90 mmHg).


CONCLUSIONS
High prevalence of hypertension and prehypertension, high mean BP, mean age above 40 years and clustering of other risk factors pose a greater risk of cardiovascular morbidity in the current study population.
Debabrata
D
Mallik
Dipta Kanti
DK
Mukhopadhyay
Pranav
P
Kumar
Apurba
A
Sinhababu
D000328:Adult; D001794:Blood Pressure; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016495:Police; D058246:Prehypertension / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors