Excess weight loss is a vital strategy for controlling hypertension among multi-ethnic population in northwest China: A cross-sectional analysis

Hypertension is a common global health problem including China. This study aimed to assess the prevalence and awareness of hypertension, and evaluate risk factors associated with hypertension among multi-ethnic population in northwest China using a random sampling cross-sectional data. A cross-sectional survey was conducted between 2014 and 2015 as part of a nationwide survey using stratified four-stage random sampling in Xinjiang. Hypertension was defined as mean systolic blood pressure (SBP) and/or diastolic blood pressure (DBP) ≥140/90 mm Hg and/or taking anti-hypertensive medication. In addition, the prevalence of hypertension (SBP ≥ 130 or DBP ≥ 80 mm Hg) was also estimated according to the 2017 American College of Cardiology (ACC)/American Heart Association (AHA) High Blood Pressure Guideline. Awareness of hypertension was based on self-report. An optimized risk score model was used to assess the risk and determine the predictive power of risk factors on hypertension. Totally 6722 subjects aged ≥18 years were enrolled and prevalence of hypertension was 24.3%, while the prevalence of hypertension based on the 2017 ACC/AHA guideline was approximately twice as high as that based on 2010 Chinese guideline (37.6%). Among individuals with hypertension, 55.5% were aware of their condition. Six potential factors were estimated to be associated with increased risk of hypertension including age, ethnicity, marital status, body mass index (BMI), waistline circumference, and comorbidity. In the analyses of calculated risk score, BMI ≥ 28.0 corresponded to the highest risk score of 23 points. The area under the receiver operation curve for the multivariable prediction model was 0.803 (95%CI: 0.789–0.813). There is a considerable prevalence of hypertension among Xinjiang adults, northwest China; awareness of hypertension is low. Excess weight loss may be a vital strategy for controlling hypertension, particularly if accompanied with other preventive measures in this region.