Prevalence of hypertension and correlates among adults of 45-60 years in a rural area of Tamil Nadu.

Hypertension is one of the major causes of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Community based studies in the rural areas of Tamil Nadu on the prevalence of hypertension and its associated risk factors are scarce. A cross-sectional study was undertaken among a sample of 406 individuals (45-60 years) selected by the standard 30 cluster systematic random sampling technique to find out prevalence of hypertension and its associated risk factors in a rural area of Tamil Nadu. Chi-square test and multiple logistic regression were employed using SPSS package. The overall prevalence of hypertension was 33% and higher among sedentary type (41%). In bivariate analysis many of the independent variables correlated with hypertension, but in multivariate analysis, only body-mass index, family history and age remained significant.