title: Gender-specific determinants of blood pressure elevation in Angolan adults.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Hypertension affects African-American adults more than any other ethnic group in the US. However, some of the black populations living outside Africa are well adapted to food and lifestyle. We aimed to describe the clinical characteristics underlying the gender-specific determinants of BP and the risk of hypertension in public-sector workers living in Angola.
  
  
  METHODS
  609 volunteers (48% men) were included in this cross-sectional and descriptive study. Demographic, socioeconomic and life style data were collected during an interview. Systolic BP (SBP) and diastolic BP (DBP) were measured, along with some anthropometric and clinical variables.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The prevalence of hypertension is 45.2% without difference between genders. Obesity was more prevalent in women (29.2% vs. 8.9%, p < 0.05). The age-related increment in SBP is higher in women (14.2 ± 1.1 vs 9.5 ± 1.3 mmHg/decade, p < 0.05). In men, age, BMI, cholesterol and LDLc/HDLc explained 21, 4, 2.5 and 2.9% of SBP variability, respectively. In women, age, BMI and HC explain 27, 2 and 1% of SBP variability, respectively. The risk for hypertension is 5 × high among men aged ≥45 years, and 3.5× in those having BMI ≥25. Women aged 45 years or older have 8 × risk of hypertension and 2× the risk by having BMI ≥25.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We found that advanced age (≥45) and overweight/obesity (BMI ≥25) are the main risk factors for hypertension in adults from Angola. However, our data suggest that age and BMI may have different influence on increasing BP in men and women.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Physiological Sciences , Federal University of Espírito Santo , Vitória , ES , Brazil.|b Department of Pathophysiology , Montes Claros State University - UNIMONTES , Montes Claros , MG , Brazil.
authors.forename: Marcelo P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Baldo
authors.affiliation: a Department of Physiological Sciences , Federal University of Espírito Santo , Vitória , ES , Brazil.
authors.forename: Divanei A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Zaniqueli
authors.affiliation: a Department of Physiological Sciences , Federal University of Espírito Santo , Vitória , ES , Brazil.|c Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine , University Agostinho Neto , Luanda , Angola.
authors.forename: Pedro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Magalhães
authors.affiliation: a Department of Physiological Sciences , Federal University of Espírito Santo , Vitória , ES , Brazil.|c Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine , University Agostinho Neto , Luanda , Angola.
authors.forename: Daniel P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Capingana
authors.affiliation: a Department of Physiological Sciences , Federal University of Espírito Santo , Vitória , ES , Brazil.|c Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine , University Agostinho Neto , Luanda , Angola.
authors.forename: Amilcar B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.affiliation: a Department of Physiological Sciences , Federal University of Espírito Santo , Vitória , ES , Brazil.
authors.forename: José Geraldo
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Mill
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000810:Angola / Q000453:epidemiology; D001794:Blood Pressure; D015992:Body Mass Index; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence
keywords: Africa; Age; blood pressure; body mass index; gender; hypertension