Prevalence and associated factors of hypertension in Amhara regional state city and its' surrounding rural districts: a community-based cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: Nowadays, among non-communicable diseases hypertension is a growing public health important disease both in developed and developing nations. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and associated factors of hypertension in Amhara Regional State city and its' surrounding rural districts, Ethiopia. METHOD: Community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in the urban and rural communities living in Amhara Regional State city and its' surrounding rural districts administrations in 2015. The WHO Stepwise approach was used for data collection. RESULT: A total of 1405 subjects participated and the response rate was 95.5%. The overall prevalence of hypertension was 11.4% either previously diagnosed or undiagnosed and was higher in older ages. Whereas the prevalence of hypertension was 13% for urban and 10% for rural residents. Nearly half of them (46.3%) were newly diagnosed. A family history of hypertension, being underweight, overweight, obese, and raised fasting blood sugar were found to be significantly associated with raised blood pressure. CONCLUSION: One among every three (37.4 %) and one among every nine study participants were found to have pre-hypertension and hypertension respectively.