Debaprasad Chakrabarti 1 , Soma Saha 2 , Anindya Sundar Trivedi 3 , Sourav Paul 4 , Monojit Debnath 5 , A. K. Bhattacharya 6
ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Uncontrolled Hypertension is an established risk factor for development of vascular diseases. Prevalence varies in different communities and as such no such study has been conducted systematically in rural people living in Tripura. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence, awareness, and control of Hypertension in the community. METHODOLOGY: Population based survey was done in four villages of Tripura. Blood pressure and Anthropometric measurements were done in all subjects >18 yrs of age. Subjects were classified as hypertensive using JNC VII criteria or those on anti -hypertensive drugs. A total of 1600 subjects were examined. RESULTS: The prevalence of hypertension in rural population was 23.1% (370/1600) and this was higher in men. The overall prevalence of hypertension, stage 1 hypertension and stage 2 hypertension were 31.1%, 58.3% and 42.6% respectively. The hypertensive subjects were older and had significantly higher body-mass index compared to the normotensive group. Of these 370 subjects, only 29.3% (108/370) were known hypertensives and only 55 subjects (50.9%) were under antihypertensive therapy. Out of these 55 individuals only 24 (43.6%) had blood pressure under control. CONCLUSION: This study shows that prevalence of hypertension was higher than national average and the awareness and control of hypertension is still inadequate in rural population of Tripura. This study reinforces the need to urgently address the problem of hypertension in our state with established approaches to public and individual health
