Arterial hypertension prevalence and associated factors. Municipality of Matanzas 2009/2010

Abstract

We carried out a cross-sectional analytic observational research on the population basis to estimate the arterial hypertension prevalence in the Matanzasan population and determine the presence of risk factors that could be attributed to this disease during the year 2009-2010. The universe was formed by the population of the municipality of Matanzas whose age ranged from 15 to 70 years, corresponding to 112 348 inhabitants. The sample was formed by 2 640 persons. In collecting information we applied a questionnaire validated by the Pan-American Health Organization for the surveillance of the non- transmissible disease risk factors. Data were processed in the program EpiInfo 3.4.3 2007.  For the data analysis there were used measures of absolute and relative frequencies, central tendency measures like average, medium, and fashion; we used the risk approach in bi-variable analysis, calculating the odds ratio with their confidence intervals. In this case we used the Chi square test. We also used the attributed risk fraction with its confidence intervals 95 %. We considered significant differences when the value p were less than 0.05 and the confidence interval did not included the value 1. From the nine variables that were significant in the bi-variable study, 8 were shown true factors associated to the hypertensive persons when they were analyzed through the logistic regression: high levels of cholesterol, people aged more than 50 years, Diabetes Mellitus, the habit of smoking, obesity, arterial hypertension familiar antecedents, overweight, and low level of scholarship.