Background The quickening pace of change and adoption of western lifestyles by people in developing countries has led to a sharp rise in the incidence of hypertension. Yet epidemiological studies using validated methods are rare especially in Central Africa. MethodsThe The response rate was 95% and 91 % for the rural and urban populations respectively. The age-standardized prevalence of hypertension was significantly higher in the urban than in the rural area. It was 16.4% (95% CI : 11.6-21.2) in urban men and 12.1% (95% CI: 7.9-16.2) in urban women, while it was 5.4% (95% CI: 2.9-8.0) in rural men and 5.9% (95% CI : 3.8-8.0) in women. Borderline hypertension (SBP 140-160, DBP 90-95 mmHg) was detected in 7.4% (95% CI : 4.4-10.4) and 6.6% (3.1-10.2) of urban, and 7.3% (95% CI : 4.7-9.9) and 2.9% (95% CI : 1.5-4.4) of rural men and women respectively. Conclusions These results indicate that hypertension is still uncommon in rural Cameroon but occurs frequently in the urban community, reaching a proportion comparable with industrialized urban communities.

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