Prevalence of hypertension in the rural adult population of Osun State, southwestern Nigeria

Background:The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of hypertension in two rural communities of Osun State, Nigeria. Methods:A consenting adult population of the Alajue and Obokun rural communities in southwestern Nigeria that presented for the screening exercise participated in this community-based cross-sectional descriptive study. Two hundred and fifty-nine respondents aged older than 18 years completed a standardized, pretested, structured questionnaire as part of activities celebrating World Kidney Day and World Glaucoma Day in 2011. Anthropometric data and blood pressure were recorded, and the data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 17. Results:The mean age of the respondents was 49.7 +/- 1.6 years, 100 (38.6%) were males, 84 (32.4%) were farmers, and 111 (42.9%) were traders. The prevalence of hypertension was 13.16% (present in 34 respondents). Seventeen (6.6%) had isolated systolic hypertension, while 11 (4.2%) had isolated diastolic hypertension. Two hundred and thirty-six (91.1%) undertook daily exercise lasting at least 30 minutes and 48 (18.5%) had ever taken antihypertensive drugs on a regular basis. Four respondents (1.6%) claimed a family history of hypertension. The average body mass index (BMI) among respondents was 23.4 +/- 4.9 kg/m(2), 51 (19.6%) had a BMI of 25.0-29.9, and 30 (11.5%) had a BMI = 30. A significant association existed between age older than 40 years and having hypertension (P < 0.05), while no relationship existed between age and BMI or between gender and hypertension (P > 0.05). Rates of older age and high BMI were significantly higher among hypertensives than among normotensives. Respondents with BMI = 25 had at least a three times greater likelihood of developing hypertension than those with BMI < 25 (odds ratio 2.9, 95% confidence interval 0.007-0.056, P = 0.011). Conclusion:The prevalence of hypertension is high in this study population and we recommend scaling up primary prevention efforts to reduce this in Nigerian communities.