Prevalence of hypertension in a clinical population of primarily rural and Indigenous Guatemalan women.

objectiveOur objective was to determine the prevalence of hypertension, overall and by sociodemographic factors, in a large clinical population of 13,873 primarily rural and Indigenous Guatemalan women. The purpose of the research is to present epidemiological findings that can be useful for public health planning and resource allocation.

resultsOverall prevalence of hypertension was 16.3% (95% CI 15.7–17.0%) and age-adjusted prevalence was 16.0% (95% CI 15.3–16.8%) using American Heart Association thresholds of 130 mmHg for systolic blood pressure and 80 mmHg for diastolic blood pressure for classification. Seventy-nine percent of those classified as hypertensive were previously undiagnosed. Hypertension prevalence increased with age and body mass index. Indigenous women and women who spoke Mayan languages both had approximately 20% lower prevalence of hypertension than non-Indigenous and Spanish-speaking women, respectively. In general, hypertension prevalence increased as likelihood of poverty decreased. Among those classified as hypertensive who had a second blood pressure reading available, 53% had elevated blood pressure on the second reading. When thresholds of 140 mmHg and 90 mmHg were used for systolic and diastolic blood pressure, respectively, overall hypertension prevalence was 5.4% (95% CI 5.0-5.8%) and age-adjusted prevalence was 6.0% (95% CI 5.4–6.6%).