Original Research Article
Year: 2018 | Month: January | Volume: 8 | Issue: 1 | Pages: 155-162
Prevalence of Hypertension and Its Association with Obesity among Women Attending Valley View University Hospital, Accra
Kwabena Acheampong1, Stella Appiah2, Dorothy Baffour-Awuah2, Yeboah Saka Arhin1
1Valley View University Hospital, Outpatient Department and General Medicine, P. O. Box AF 595, Adenta-Accra, Ghana
2Valley View University, Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Nursing, P. O. Box AF 595, Adenta-Accra, Ghana
Corresponding Author: Kwabena Acheampong
ABSTRACT
style="text-align:justify">Background: Hypertension has consistently ranked among the top ten causes of outpatient morbidity accounting for 3% to 5% of all new outpatient diseases. Population-based studies estimate the prevalence of hypertension in Ghana at 19% to 48%.
Objective: To determine the prevalence of hypertension and its association with obesity among women attending Valley View University Hospital, Accra.
Methodology: The study was a hospital based cross-sectional study conducted at outpatient department of Valley View University Hospital in Accra, Ghana, where 200women aged 25 to 74years visiting the facility were recruited to participate in the study. Data were analyzed using the SPSS programme IBM version 20. Chi-square was used to investigate the association between independent variables and prevalence of hypertension. The data were further analyzed using binary logistic regression methods to evaluate possible risk factors associated with hypertension. Odd ratio was reported to establish the risk of hypertension and 95% confidence interval were estimated. A p<0.05 was considered as statistically significance.
Results: The findings revealed that 77out of 200 participants were hypertensive, giving the overall prevalence of 38.5%. Forty (20.0%) of the participants were previously diagnosed of hypertension.
Conclusion: The study established that the prevalence of hypertension was high and its associated risk factors included age, obesity and family history of hypertension. Preventive efforts targeting lifestyle changes at community level to curtail these risk factors at population and individual level is urgently required.
Key words: Body Mass Index, Hypertension, Obesity, Parity.