Correlation between Body Mass Index to Hypertension in A Rural Area in East Java

Abstract

Hypertension is one of the most commonly encountered problems in primary health care and a major risk factor for other lethal diseases. Obesity, another arising problem in developing and developed countries, is another major risk factor for metabolic disease. However, studies about both diseases and their intercorrelation in rural areas are still limited. Therefore, we conducted this study to investigate the correlation between body mass index (BMI) and blood pressure in a rural area. This study was an observational, cross-sectional study performed in outpatients at Community Health Care of Ngronggot, a rural area in East Java for one month with inclusion criteria aged 18 years old, systole blood pressure (SBP) ≥140 and/or diastole blood pressure (DBP) ≥90, or a history of anti-hypertensive treatment. Information including age, gender, SBP, DBP, mean arterial pressure (MAP), body weight, and height was collected and calculated for its distribution and correlation using the Spearman rank-order correlation test. There were 201 subjects in this study, 65.7% of which were female, while 34.3% of which are male, and the median age was 59 years old. We also found that more than 60% of our participants were overweight and obese. The results of the Spearman test showed that BMI significantly correlated with SBP (p=0.029), DBP (p=0.016), and MAP (p=0.008). In conclusion, BMI had a positive correlation with blood pressure, and obesity was prevalent in our rural area population.

Body Mass Index Status With Hypertension

“…The results showed that the highest BMI frequency characteristic was overweight of 13 (43.3%) respondents. The same results were also found by Kurniawan et al, (2021) in East Java regarding BMI showing that more patients were overweight (42.3% of respondents). BMI above normal (overweight or obesity) increases the risk of developing hypertension because the greater the body mass, the more blood supply is needed to supply oxygen and nutrients to the body's tissues.…”

“…BMI is an individual's weight in kilograms divided by the square of his height in meters (kg/m2) (CDC, 2022). The effect of BMI on increased blood pressure is multifactorial and exacerbates the increase in blood pressure (Kurniawan et al, 2021). Several studies have examined the relationship between BMI and the incidence of hypertension.…”

Body Mass Index With Systolic and Diastolic Blood Pressure at a Public Health Center in Surabaya, Indonesia

“…A study from Kurniawan et al, (2021) found that in adults aged 20-61 the correlation between BMI and systolic blood pressure had p= 0.001 r= 0.362, and between BMI and diastolic blood pressure had p= 0.001 r= 0.297. According to a research conducted on Punjabi women between the ages of 18 and 50, there was also an association between BMI and blood pressure, with p=0.01 r=0.35 for diastolic blood pressure and p=0.01 r=0.30 for systolic blood pressure (Dua, et al, 2014).…”