High burden of hypertension across the age groups among residents of Gondar city in Ethiopia: a population based cross sectional study

Background: According to a report on the worldwide trends in blood pressure from 1975 to 2015, mean blood pressure is increasing in low and middle income countries while it is either decreasing or stabilizing in high income countries. Few studies have been published on the prevalence of hypertension in Ethiopia demonstrating an increased trend; however, these studies had small sample size and were limited to participants older than 35 years; which left the burden among adolescents and young adults unaddressed. The aim of this study was to assess prevalence of hypertension (HTN) and associated factors in Gondar city. Method: A population based cross-sectional study was conducted among 3227 individuals in Gondar city. A multistage cluster random sampling was used. The Kish method from World Health Organization (WHO) STEPS instrument of random sampling method was used for selecting one individual older than or equal to 18 years from each household. WHO and International Diabetic Association (IDA) criterion was used to classify HTN. Result: The overall prevalence of HTN was 27. 4% [95% CI: (25. 8-28.9)]. The prevalence for participants in the age group of >= 35 years was 36. 1%. It consistently increased from 9.5% in the age group of 18-25 years to 46.3% in the age group of >= 65 years (P-value < 0. 001). Only 47% of the participants had ever had any kind of blood pressure measurement. Being elderly (AOR = 5. 56; 95% CI: 3. 71-8. 35), obese (AOR = 2. 62; 95% CI: 1. 70-4. 03), widowed (AOR = 1. 87; 95% CI: 1. 27-2. 75), separated (AOR = 1. 87; 95% CI: 1. 27-2. 75), daily alcohol user (AOR = 1. 51; 95% CI: 1. 02-2. 23), male gender (AOR = 1. 42; 95% CI: 1. 18-1. 72) and born in urban area (AOR = 1. 31; 95% CI: 1. 10-1. 56) were found to be independently associated with HTN. Conclusion: There is a high prevalence of hypertension in Gondar city and is showing increasing trend compared to previous reports. Interventions to raise awareness and to improve both capacity and accessibility of facilities for screening hypertension are highly recommended.