Epidemiological study of hypertension and its determinants in an urban population, Solapur

Hypertension is a chronic condition of concern due to its role in a causation of coronary heart disease, stroke and other vascular complications. It is one of the major risk factors for cardiovascular mortality, which accounts for 20–50 percent of all deaths. In India, the trend is increasing due to changes in lifestyle.

The present community based descriptive study with cross sectional design carried out among 400 individuals with an age 20 years and above. Predesigned & pretested Semi open-ended questionnaire was used to collect data, 200 individuals selected from urban slum and non-slum area each by simple random sampling.

The prevalence of hypertension in urban area was 18.25%. Prevalence of hypertension was significantly more in elderly peoples (51.85%), class I socioeconomic status (28.23%), higher educational status i.e. Post-graduate (34.04%), widowed individuals (45%), obese (34.62%), smokers (39.58%) and alcoholics (35.18%), those with family history of hypertension (31.40%) and Diabetes (33.33%).

The prevalence of hypertension is high in certain high risk groups which can be easily identified and preventive actions can be taken.