Abstract

Background: Noncommunicable disease (NCD) is the leading cause of death worldwide, and mortality owing to NCD is higher in low- and middle-income countries. Worldwide, hypertension-related mortality accounts for 9.4 million in the form of cardiovascular diseases and stroke. In India, there has been an alarming increase in the prevalence of NCD over the past two decades so much so that accounts for 24% of all deaths among adults aged 25–69 years.
Objective: To study the prevalence and determinants of systemic hypertension among 15-year and older respondents in a rural area of Kancheepuram district, Tamil Nadu.
Materials and Methods: A community-based, cross-sectional study was carried out among 3,681 15-year and older respondents in Chunampet panchayat, a rural area in Kancheepuram district. JNC 7 guidelines were used for diagnosis of hypertension. Data entry was done in MS Excel 2013, and SPSS version 21 was used for analysis. The 95% confidence interval for proportions was calculated using EpiInfo software. Result: The overall prevalence of hypertension in our study population was 10.8%, which included the participants who are known hypertensive on treatment and/or whose blood pressure was more than 140/90 mm Hg in sitting position for adult and adolescence more than 95 percentile. The prevalence of isolated systolic hypertension was 2.9% (n = 104), 2.7% among male and 2.9% among female subjects. The prevalence of hypertension increased proportionately with increasing age. Hypertension was more prevalent among those who had the habit of smoking tobacco (18.2%), alcohol consumption (17.4%), and those who were obese (14.2%). Conclusion: Prevalence of hypertension increases as the age advances. Smoking tobacco, consuming alcohol, and obesity were found to be significant risk factors for hypertension. Interventions aimed toward alleviating these risk factors can help in reducing the risk of developing hypertension.