title: Prevalence of Hypertension in a Tribal Land Locked Population at High Altitude.
abstract: Introduction. Extensive pubmed search reveals paucity of data on prevalence of hypertension in tribal population at high altitude. The data is all the more scarce from our part of India. Studies among tribal populations at high altitudes provide an interesting epidemiological window to study human evolution and adaptation to hypobaric hypoxia. Material and Methods. 401 participants above the age of 20 years were evaluated for blood pressure using a stratified simple random technique among villages located at high altitude. Results. Out of a total of 401 individuals studied 43 (males: 35; females: 8) were identified as hypertensive yielding a crude prevalence of 10.7%. The prevalence was higher in males (35/270; 12.9%) as compared to females (8/131; 6%). Prevalence was the highest in the age group of 30-39 among males (16/35; 45.7%) while it was the highest in the age group of 40-49 among females (7/8; 87%). Conclusions. Prevalence of 10.5% is noteworthy when interpreted in light of prevalence of hypertension in general population especially if hypobaric hypoxia is considered to have a protective effect on blood pressure in high altitude native populations.
authors.affiliation: Community Medicine, Dr. Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College, Tanda 176001, India.
authors.forename: Sunil Kumar
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Raina
authors.affiliation: Community Medicine, Dr. Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College, Tanda 176001, India.
authors.forename: Vishav
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Chander
authors.affiliation: Community Medicine, Dr. Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College, Tanda 176001, India.
authors.forename: Chaman Lal
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Prasher
authors.affiliation: Internal Medicine, Dr. Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College, Tanda 176001, India.
authors.forename: Sujeet
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Raina