[Prevalence of systemic arterial hypertension and associated risk factors in the Porto Alegre metropolitan area. Populational-based study].

Purpose: To evaluate the contemporaneous prevalence of hypertension in Porto Alegre, RS, and its association with biological, socioeconomic and environmental factors.

Methods: It was done an observational and analytical study with a cross-sectional design, of a representative sample of the adults of the urban region. The study was planned with a power to describe the main estimates with 0.