Prevalence of Hypertension and Associate Risk Factors among Workers at Hawassa University, Ethiopia: An Institution Based Cross Sectional Study

Background: Hypertension is a serious public health concern which alone is estimated to cause 7.5 million (12.8% of all causes of death) deaths per year and it doubles the risk of many cardiovascular diseases. Objectives: To assess the prevalence of hypertension, the associated risk factors and knowledge plus practice related to hypertension. Materials and methods: The study was conducted in January-March 2014. Using simple random sampling technique 620 participants were selected. Data were collected by structured questionnaire. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 16 computer software. Result: The response rate of the study was 99.6%. Majority, 61.7% (376), of the respondents were male and 47.8% (272) were aged 25-34 years. Among respondents 122 (19.7%) were found to be hypertensive either by systolic or diastolic blood pressure out of which 54 (44%) were found hypertensive by both. Out of 122 hypertensive persons, 45 (36.9%) did not know their hypertension status. Some 192 (31%) of the respondents had a BMI score of 25 and above out of which 41 (21.4%) were obese. Respondents whose BMI measures ranged from 25-29.99 and those who were 30 years old and above were at increased risk of hypertension AOR=3.8 (95%CI 1.22-12) and AOR=3.90 (95%CI 1.10-14.01), respectively. Conclusion: Prevalence of hypertension among the study subjects was significantly high and most of them didn’t know their hypertension status. The level of hypertension related knowledge and practice of protective healthy life style were very low calling for urgent intervention.