title: Prevalence of and risk factors for hypertension among urban communities of North Sudan: Detecting a silent killer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Hypertension is a common global health problem in many countries including Sudan. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of and risk factors for high blood pressure (BP) in River Nile State (RNS), Sudan.
  
  
  METHODS
  A community-based, cross-sectional study was conducted by a house-to-house survey; all consented adults from the main four cities, Atbara, Shendi, Ed Damer, and Berber, were interviewed using standardized pretested questionnaire to record medical history, sociodemographic and lifestyle characteristics. BP was measured using the standardized technique. Body mass index, waist circumference, and blood glucose were also determined.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 954 individuals were included in the study. The mean age was 39.5 ± 16.6 years and 54.3% were females. The prevalence of hypertension was 35.7% and the newly diagnosed cases were 22.4%. Increasing age, low educational level, diabetes mellitus, obesity, and central obesity were found to be risk factors for hypertension.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Hypertension is diagnosed in more than one-third of the population living in urban communities of RNS and correlates well with features of the metabolic syndrome.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Nile Valley University, Atbara, Sudan.
authors.forename: Sarra O
authors.initials: SO
authors.lastname: Bushara
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Nile Valley University, Atbara, Sudan.
authors.forename: Sufian K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Noor
authors.affiliation: Berber Teaching Hospital, River Nile State, Federal Ministry of Health, Sudan.
authors.forename: Abd Alaziz H
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Ibraheem
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Nile Valley University, Atbara, Sudan.
authors.forename: Wadie M
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Elmadhoun
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, UK.
authors.forename: Mohamed H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Ahmed
keywords: Hypertension; River Nile State; Sudan; obesity and diabetes