Hypertension and prehypertension among undergraduate students in Sohag University

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Public Health and Community Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine, Sohag University, Sohag, Egypt

2 Family Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine, Sohag University, Sohag, Egypt

Abstract

Background: Many people with high blood pressure are not aware they have the disease until it has progressed. Awareness and provision of information on the risk factors for hypertension are essential for prevention. Objective: To assess prevalence and risk factors of hypertension and prehypertension among undergraduate students. Methods: Analytic cross-sectional study was conducted at Sohag University during academic year 2021-2022 among five hundred undergraduate students. Data were collected by questionnaire and physical and biochemical measurements. Results: Five hundred students were included in the current analysis. The mean age was 21.57±1.96 years and 52.6% were females. The prevalence of prehypertension was 35.8% and hypertension was 4.2%. Older students and those who had low socio-economic status had higher prevalence of pre-hypertensive (59.1 and 45.5%, respectively) and hypertensive (20.5% and 9.1%, respectively). Students from practical faculties had higher prevalence of pre-hypertensive (52.2%) and hypertensive (6.2%). Students who were physically inactive and those who consumed less than five servings of fruits-vegetables/day had higher prevalence of prehypertension (67.0% and 52.9%, respectively) and hypertension (17.4% and 6.7%, respectively). Most of these factors remained significant in multivariate analysis. Conclusions: There is considerable prevalence rates of prehypertension and hypertension among undergraduate students. Unhealthy lifestyle including physical inactivity and low consumption of fruits and vegetables per day increase the risk of high blood pressure in these students. The identified association between these modifiable risk factors and elevated blood pressure emphasizes the importance of primary prevention interventions for young adults.

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