A study on prevalence of hypertension in the rural adult population

Abstract

In industrialized societies, blood pressure increases steadily during the first two decades of life. In children and adolescents, bold pressure is associated with growth and maturation. Blood pressure “tracks” over time in children and between adolescence and young adulthood. In the United States, average systolic blood pressure is higher for men than for women during early adulthood, although among older individuals the age related rate of rise is steeper for women. A pilot study was conducted with a sample size of 60 participants, taking twenty participants from each of the above mentioned villages. The prevalence of hypertension was found to be 9.2% in the pilot study. Based on the pilot study appropriate changes were made in the initial questionnaire and a final questionnaire was prepared and used for the study. In this study, 77.7% of participants with hypertension were in Stage 1 category in this study. It can be inferred that with increasing age there was a higher prevalence of Hypertension. There is a statistically significant association between Age and Blood Pressure status.