Prevalence of Hypertension among Urban Poor with and without Diabetes - A Study from South India.

Objective: Hypertension and Diabetes are considered as two leading risk factors of mortality in the world. According to an ICMR-INDIAB study, prevalence of hypertension in Tamil Nadu was higher in urban population than the rural population. Hence this study was planned to estimate the prevalence and distribution of hypertension among the urban poor with and without diabetes.

Methods: A community based cross-sectional study was conducted among two backward communities in North Chennai, Tamil Nadu. A total of 330 participants with and without diabetes, were recruited after screening 1272 subjects and self reported diabetes cases of 235. Measurement of blood pressure was done in both groups based on American Heart Association (AHA) criteria and diagnosis of diabetes was made based on the previous history of diabetes and WHO criteria.

Results: Prevalence of hypertension (Stage II) among the people with diabetes and without diabetes was reported 44.8%, and 42.6% respectively (p= 0.046). Obesity and overweight were significantly associated with prevalence of hypertension among people with diabetes (p= 0.021). Distribution of stage II hypertension among males and females were 46.2% and 42.80% respectively. There was significant gender difference in the prevalence of HTN (p = 0.043).

Conclusion: Prevalence of hypertension was found to be higher among the diabetic group compared to the non- diabetic group (44.8% vs 42.6%), though the difference between the two was not very substantial. We therefore conclude that half of the urban poor are hypertensive even if they are not diabetic.