Prevalence of hypertension and its risk factors among women aged 25 years or older in Kpone-Katamanso District, Ghana

Abstract

Hypertension in Ghana is a common problem of enormous public and fiscal consequence because of its high occurrence and the severity of its complications. Population-based studies estimate the prevalence of hypertension in Ghana at 19% to 48% (Bosu, 2010).This study’s main objective was to determine the prevalence of hypertension and its associated risk factors among women aged 25 years or older in Kpone-Katamanso District, to determine socio-demographic characteristics and lifestyle factors associated with prevalence of hypertension, and determine co-morbidities and family related factors associated with prevalence of hypertension. In addition, assess the knowledge on cause, prevention and treatment of hypertension among the target population. This study employed across sectional study design. A total population of 216 consenting participants aged 25 years or older from four communities in Kpone Katamanso District were involved in the study. Data were collected from the study population by household visits using a pre-designed semi-structured questionnaire after taking their consent. The data were entered in SPSS version 20.0. to be presented in tables, and analyzed using Chi-square and binary logistic regression. The significance threshold was set at 0.05. A total of 73 out of 216 participants were hypertensive, giving the overall prevalence of 33.8%. Its prevalence increased with age (from 13.3% to 56.4%, p<0.000). Among hypertensive participants, the mean SBP reading was 145.75±14.13mmHg and the mean DBP reading was 93.70± 9.50mmHg whereas the non-hypertensive participants, the mean systolic blood pressure reading was 114.76 ± 9.13mmHg and the mean diastolic blood pressure reading was 72.73±7.24mmHg. Forty-six (21.3%) of the subject were previously diagnosed of hypertension (aware of hypertension status). The Binary logistic regression analysis showed that age 65 and above 8.788 [3.829-92.188: p˂0.000), obesity 5.513 [2.013-15.098: p˂0.001]) and family history of hypertension72.132 [19.43-267.613:p˂0.000] were found to be significantly associated with hypertension. The study established that the prevalence of hypertension was high and its associated risk factors included age, obesity and family history of hypertension. Women with a very high risk of developing hypertension like high systolic blood pressure, marked obesity, or a strong familial history of hypertension should undertake blood pressure screening regularly for early detection and prompt treatment.