Prevalence of Hypertension and Adherence to Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension Diet Score in Childbearing Age Tunisian Women: A Cross-Sectional Study

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The prevalence, awareness, and treatment of hypertension, along with their sociodemographic, anthropometric, and lifestyle associations, were evaluated in a cross-sectional survey of childbearing age Tunisian women. Adherence to the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension diet score was also assessed for hypertensive versus nonhypertensive women. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 1689 nonpregnant women, aged 20-49 years, were randomly sampled a regional (Greater Tunis), two-stage, stratified, cross-sectional cluster survey from March 2009 to January 2010. Data on medical history and sociodemographic characteristics were collected using a questionnaire. The average daily intake of energy and nutrients was computed using a specific Tunisian food composition database. The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension diet score (0 to 10) was assessed by adding the individual scores (0 to 1) of ten nutrient components according to dietary guidelines. The overall prevalence of hypertension was 21.4%. Age, obesity, abdominal fat, parity, and family history were significantly associated with hypertension. The mean Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension accordance score was 4.93 for hypertensive women and 4.86 for nonhypertensive women (P = 0.0556). After adjustment for age, energy intake, and all nutritional covariates, no associations were observed between hypertension and Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension diet components. CONCLUSION: Though no clear-cut associations between hypertension and environmental or behavioral factors were identified in the study, the association with abdominal obesity and multiparity suggests that interventions aimed at lifestyle modifications to reduce these risk factors could be also useful in the prevention of hypertension.