Assessing the prevalence of hypertension and prehypertension and associated risk factors among patients at the Out- Patient Department, Mulago Hospital.

Abstract

Background; Hypertension or high blood pressure is a chronic medical condition in which the blood pressure in the arteries is elevated. Hypertension has been described as the “silent killer” because initially, the disease presents no apparent symptoms, and hence an individual can have hypertension without realizing it. The World Health Organization estimates that approximately 40 percent of people worldwide have raised blood pressure. Factors associated with the development of hypertension can be categorized into modifiable risk factors namely obesity, physical inactivity, high salt diet, smoking and others and non‑modifiable risk factors namely age, race, genetic composition, sex and others. Aim; This study aimed at assessing the prevalence of prehypertension and hypertension and associated risk factors among Out-patient department (OPD) patients at Mulago Hospital. Subjects and Methods: Descriptive cross‑sectional study design was utilized and the study carried out over a period of 2 months (October and November 2021). Purposive sampling was utilized to select a total of 385 respondents for the study.