Distribution of blood pressures in Gemlik District, north-west Turkey

Abstract

The objectives of the present study were to evaluate the prevalence, awareness and control of hypertension among individuals over 30 years of age and to plan a follow-up programme for the same age group. A community-based sample of 1992 individuals (952 men and 1,040 women) was selected randomly. Out of the total study population, 1,388 (69.7%) individuals had normal blood pressure according to World Health Organisation criteria (systolic blood pressure < 140 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure < 90 mmHg), and the rest (n = 604, 30.3%) had hypertension to varying degrees. Since 61 individuals with normal blood pressure were using antihypertensive medication, the overall hypertension prevalence was 33.4%. Among the study subjects with hypertension, 44.4% were aware of their condition, 37.7% were using medication and 9.2% had controlled hypertension. One out of five individuals (n = 399, 20.0%) had never had their blood pressure measured before. Females had a higher hypertension prevalence than males (36.7% and 29.7%, respectively). Hypertension prevalence increased with age and individuals with a body mass index > 25 were at greater risk. The present findings suggest that there is a need to implement an effective, community-based and low-cost management programme.

Hypertension prevalence and risk factors among adult population in Afyonkarahisar region: a cross-sectional research

“…Similar results have also been reported in studies conducted in Turkey (10,12,13,22). HT prevalence was higher in older ages also in the studies conducted by Arslantaş et al (22) (>50 years old, 59.5%), and Lai et al (26) (>60 years old; 53.09% in men, 56.06% in women).…”

“…Although in various studies conducted in Turkey and other countries have shown that, the prevalence of HT was higher in women than men (7,10,12,13,22,23) in some other studies HT prevalence is more prevalent in men than women (8,24). In our study, gender was a significant risk factor for HT; women had more HT risk than men (31.3% in women, 14.1% in men).…”

“…HT prevalence in obese people was 37.0%. In other studies, it was found as 22.3% (16) and 52.6% (13). These results indicate the importance of the body weight of a hypertensive patient and the importance of informing the patients about this relationship.…”

“…In addition, the number of adults with HT in 2025 was predicted to increase by about 60% (3). While the prevalence of HT in different studies was reported as 8.6-42.1% (5)(6)(7)(8)(9), population-based studies carried out in Turkey have shown that HT is a common disease, with the prevalence in the range of 24.4-44% (10)(11)(12)(13)(14), It is known that HT is important not only because of its high frequency, but also because it is a major modifiable risk factors for cardiovascular diseases (6,8).…”

“…HT is common, especially in individuals aged 40 years and over (13,15,16). This study aimed to determine the prevalence of HT among adults, in Afyonkarahisar region and to examine its related risk factors in a sample of the Turkish adult population.…”