DOI: 10.36347/sjams.2018.v06i10.066

Pages: 4008-4011

“You protect it, you promote it, and you extend it” these are in fact the basic principles of preventive medicine. As per WHO report for 1991, more than 69 million people worldwide have been found to have high blood pressure. In USA alone, as per 1991 WHO estimate, it affects about 50 million people, costing 29 million working days and 2 billion dollars per year. Of these 31.6% are unaware of their high blood pressure. In rural population also there is a steady increase in WHO defined hypertension. Studies carried out in different methodologies have revealed prevalence rates ranging from 3% to 15.2% among adult population and as shown by studies among subjects more than 60 years of age it has gone up from 4% to 19.2%.. So the present study was aimed to find out prevalence of hypertension in rural population above 40 years and to know the prevalence of isolated systolic and diastolic blood pressure. In this study it is clear that as age increases, the prevalence of hypertension also increases. There is a steep increase in the age group 50-59 years as compared to 40-49 year (to 41% from 19%). Almost half of the persons above 70 years were hypertensive. Out of 1127 respondents, 48 were isolated hypertensive, 65 were isolated diastolic hypertensive and 91 were borderline isolated systolic hypertensive.