Influence of family history and lifestyle on blood pressure and heart rate in young adults in Jordan

Background: The most prevalent disease in Jordan is hypertension. Jordan is a small, middle-income developing country in the Middle East. It has a population of 5 611202 people. Few studies have examined the associated cardiovascular risk factors in Jordan. Design: The aim of this investigation was to explore specific lifestyles in Jordan, measuring blood pressure and heart rate through a randomized cross-sectional population study. Methods: A total of 14310 adult mates (7400) and females (6910) were selected in various regions of Jordan. Selected participants were interviewed by trained senior pharmacy students. They were asked whether they had hypertension or other cardiovascular disorders and if the answer was negative further questions were asked. This was followed by measurement of blood pressure and heart rate. Demographic data such as age, sex and nationality were also recorded, as was family history of hypertension. For each individual of the sample, systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and heart rate were measured three times with 10-15 min intervals in a sitting position and resting state. The Student's unpaired t-test was used for statistical analysis. Results were considered statistically significant when the P value was less than 0.05. Results: A general trend in all the results tables was a lower blood pressure among those without a family history of cardiovascular disease and higher values among those with a family history of cardiovascular disease. Conclusion: This study demonstrates that SBP and DBP increase with all associated risk factors if a family history of hypertension is positive. This cross-sectional study revealed the presence of a consistent and strong relationship between certain lifestyle risk factors with an elevation in blood pressure concurrent with a positive family history of hypertension. (c) 2006 The Royal Institute of Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.