Risk factors associated with development of hypertension Among armed forces personnel attending medical outpatient Clinic at armed forces memorial hospital Nairobi, Kenya
Abstract
Hypertension remains a major risk factor for the development of cardiovascular diseases CVDs)worldwide. Statistics show a rising morbidity and mortality in developing countries
especiallyin the Sub Saharan Africa (SSA) as a result of hypertension, (WHO,2003). Military
personnelengage in physical activities and regular exercise which improve their physical
fitnesshence reducing chances of developing CVDs, (Haskell et al 2007). However,
hypertensionhas been observed to be on the rise in this population. This study therefore,
soughtto identify risk factors that could be associated with development of hypertension
amongthis population.
Study objective
The objective of this study was to determine the risk factors associated with development of
hypertension among military personnel attending medical outpatient clinic at Armed Forces
Memorial Hospital (AFMH) in Nairobi Kenya.
Methodology
This was an exploratory cross-sectional survey that was carried out at Armed Forces
Memorial Hospital situated along Mbagathi road for a period of 12 weeks from May to July
2010. Simple random sampling was utilized in selecting subjects. A total of 170 hypertensive
and 170 normotensive subjects were recruited to this study. A structured questionnaire based
on WHO STEPS approach for surveillance of chronic disease was used as a tool for data
collection for both groups with physiological and anthropometric measurements being
obtained from each subject. STAT A version 11 was used to analyze collected data and
measures of central tendency, chi square, t-test, bivariate, multivariate and logistic regression
employed as statistical methods for data analysis.
XIV
Results
A total of 170 hypertensive subjects from the MOPC and 170 normotensive subjects from
AFMH staff nominal roll were enrolled into the study. The mean age (SD) of hypertensive and
normotensives subjects were 45.1(7.7) and 40.8(7.3) years, respectively. On average the
hypertensive patients were 4.82 older than the nonnotensives (p<O.OOO1). Ninety-five percent
of the cases were male compared to 5% of females. There was a strong statistical association
between the frequency of alcohol consumption and hypertension in the bivariate analysis (l=
34.33, d.f. =3; P<O.OOOI). Approximately 11% of cases were current smokers compared to
only 4.2% of controls who also reported smoking. There was a statistically significant
association between current smoking and hypertension with an OR =0.17; 95%CI (0.14-0.89)
indicating that hypertension was more prevalent among smokers compared to individuals who
did not smoke. From this analysis the cases of hypertension were noted to have poorer
nutritional indicators compared to the controls. Cases were more likely to be overweight
(59.76% versus 28.24%) or obese (19.53% versus 3.53%) compared to the controls.
Conclusion and recommendation
In this study, higher anthropometric measurements, cigarette smoking and certain dietary
habits remained significantly associated with hypertension in this population. In addition, the
level of physical fitness in this population was excellent as per the fitness index results. The
study findings thus, provide an impetus for urgent need to encourage healthy lifestyles as a
primary prevention strategy. There is also need to explore other possible risk factors for CVDs
and hypertension in this population.
Citation
Master of Science degree in critical care NursingPublisher
University Of Nairobi College of Health Sciences