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Prevalence and Risk Factors of Hypertension Among Young Adults in Albania
Authors: Benojir Ahammed, Md. Maniruzzaman, Ashis Talukder, and Farzana Ferdausi
Source: High Blood Pressure & Cardiovascular Prevention, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40292-020-00419-5
Topic(s): Blood pressure
Education
Hypertension
Religion
Wealth Index
Country: Eastern Europe
  Albania
Published: OCT 2020
Abstract: Introduction: Hypertension is one of the major risk factors for cardiovascular disease and the leading cause of death worldwide. Hypertension was defined as systolic or diastolic blood pressure according to Joint National Committee 7 (JNC7) and 2017 American College of Cardiology/American Hypertension Association (ACC/AHA) rules. Aim: The aims of this study was to determine the difference in hypertension prevalence and its risk factors using ACC/AHA rule, and compared its result with JNC7 rule. Methods: Data were collected using two-stage stratified cluster sample of households from 2017/18 Albanian Demographic and Health Survey. Data were analyzed using the descriptive and multivariate logistic regression model. Results: Among 15,003 respondents aged 15–49 years, the overall prevalence of hypertension was 63.48% and 16.24%, as per ACC/AHA and JNC7 rules, respectively with an absolute increase of prevalence by 47.3% (CI 46.4–48.2%). According to the ACC/AHA rule, in most of the categories of the respondents, the prevalence of hypertension was 40% higher compared with the JNC7 rule. In multivariate analysis, age, education, richest respondents, number of living children (= 3), health insurance and gender had significant (p < 0.05) impact on hypertension for both rules. Besides, the middle and richer wealth index, religion, and physically active work had also significant (p < 0.05) impact on hypertension for JNC7 rules. Conclusions: Newly established ACC/AHA rule led to a significant increase in the proportion of hypertension among the Albanian populations. Similarly, there was a significant difference in the impact of some socioeconomic factors on hypertension as per both rules. Implementation of the prevention and control programs of hypertension are required to increase the awareness of the bad impact of hypertension.
Web: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40292-020-00419-5