Prevalence of hypertension and its relationship with health complaints in elderly Iranians : a multi-site community-based study

Abstract EN

Background: The prevalence of Hypertension (HTN) in developing countries might have a different pattern in different countries.

Objectives: This study aimed at investigating the current pattern of HTN and evaluating its relationship with health complaints in elderly Iranian individuals in 2012.

Methods: This cross sectional study used multistage sampling to investigate 1 350 Iranian elderly subjects ( 60 years) living in the community.

Those elderly, who had a systolic blood pressure (SBP) 140mmHgand/or diastolic blood pressure (DBP) 90mmHg and/or those who used antihypertensive drugs during the previous two weeks, were considered as HTN.

A face-to-face interview was performed using a structured questionnaire, including demographic factors, awareness, treatment and control of HTN, and health complaints for each individual.

Chi-square test and multiple logistic regression analyses were applied to detect the most important variables related to HTN.

Results: Hypertension was seen in 48.5% of individuals.

Awareness, treatment, and control of HTNwere seen in 40.7%, 82.5%, and 30% of individuals, respectively.

Elderly individuals with HTN had significantly more experienced visual disturbances (P = 0.03), fecal or urinary incontinence (P = 0.006), nocturia (P = 0.002), attacks of shortness of breath (P = 0.004), and hyperlipidaemia (P < 0.001).

After adjusting for potential confounders such as ethnicity, nocturia (OR, 1.34; CI 95%, 1.02 - 1.75) and hyperlipidemia (OR, 1.94; 95% CI, 1.5 - 2.51) remained significantly relevant to HTN.

Conclusions: The prevalence of HTN was lower in elderly community-living Iranians than developed countries, yet, was still considerable.

Nocturia and hyperlipidemia were the most common health complaints in Iranian elderly with HTN.