Prevalence and correlates of hypertension and diabetes mellitus in an urban community in North-Western Nigeria

INTRODUCTION: Worldwide, hypertension and diabetes mellitus (DM) are major causes of morbidity and mortality. This study assesses the prevalence and correlates of hypertension and DM in an urban community in northwestern Nigeria. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study. Adults aged 18 years and above, who attended a medical outreach program were interviewed and screened for hypertension and DM. Anthropometry, blood glucose and blood pressure were measured with standard instruments and methodology. Primary outcomes were hypertension and DM. Data were analyzed using STATA version 14 and presented as mean ± standard deviation and frequencies. Chi-square and Pearson's correlation co-efficient were used to identify the correlates of hypertension and DM, at 5% level of significance. RESULTS: The mean age of participants was 51.0 ± 14.0 years and 87.8% were females. Prevalence of hypertension and DM were 55.9% and 23.3% respectively. Age greater than 40 years and female gender were associated with risk of hypertension and DM respectively, p < 0.05. There was a weak correlation between systolic hypertension and age (r = 0.18, p = 0.02), diastolic hypertension and body mass index (r = 0.16, p = 0.03) and blood sugar and waist circumference (r = 0.19, p = 0.02). CONCLUSION: The high prevalence of hypertension and DM among the study population highlights the need for the development and implementation of a community-based public health interventions aimed at reducing their risk factors.