Abstract

Background: It is one of the major and independent risk factors for non-communicable diseases (NCD) such as cerebrovascular disease, coronary heart disease, and cardiac and renal failure. The recent WHO report states that considering the prevalence of any diseases, hypertension ranks fourth in the world.

Objectives: To assess the prevalence of hypertension in an urban population of Shivamogga.

Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Urban Shivamogga Study was conducted during February 1st to July 30th 2016 for 6 months. Data were collected from household members aged 15-64 years. The calculated sample size was 2000. Subjects were interviewed using a prestructured and pretested questionnaire adopted from WHO Steps I and II, approaches for NCD risk factors surveillance, after modifying to suit the local requirements (questions about hypertension were considered for study).

Results: The prevalence of high blood pressure in the present study was 26.5%, which was more prevalent in males (27.6%) compared females (25.3%). History of hypertension in the present study was 12.05%. This is finding is consonance with a study conducted by Nath et al.

Conclusion: This community-based study demonstrated high prevalence of Hypertension among productive population of urban Shivamogga.

Key words: Hypertension; Pre-hypertension; Non-communicable Diseases; Risk Factors