Association between central obesity, triglycerides and hypertension in a rural area in Brazil

FUNDAMENTO: A hipertens??o, importante problema de sa??de p??blica, representa uma das principais causas de morbidade em todo o mundo. OBJETIVO: Estimar a preval??ncia da hipertens??o arterial e seus fatores de risco em uma comunidade rural do nordeste do estado de Minas Gerais, Brasil. M??TODOS: Estudo transversal realizado em 2004, em Virgem das Gra??as, comunidade rural localizada no Vale do Jequitinhonha. A amostra era composta por 287 indiv??duos, com idades entre 18 e 88 anos. Hipertens??o foi definida segundo os crit??rios da Joint National Committee (press??o arterial sist??lica > 140 mmHg e/ou press??o arterial diast??lica > 90 mmHg): indiv??duos que j?? usavam medicamentos anti-hipertensivos tamb??m foram considerados hipertensos. Usou-se a an??lise bivariada para testar a rela????o entre as vari??veis independentes e hipertens??o, e a regress??o log??stica para ajustar fatores de confus??o e identificar intera????es. A for??a de associa????o foi mensurada usando-se odds ratio (OR) e seus intervalos de confian??a de 95% [IC (95%)]. RESULTADOS: A preval??ncia bruta da hipertens??o foi de 47,0% [IC (95%): 41,1 - 53,0], a preval??ncia ajustada por idade foi de 43,2% [IC (95%): 35,7 - 50,7], enquanto a preval??ncia ajustada por escolaridade foi de 44,1% [IC (95%): 43,9 ??? 44,3]. De acordo com a an??lise multivariada, observou-se que idade, triglicer??deos, circunfer??ncia da cintura e sexo eram fatores de risco independentes associados ?? hipertens??o. CONCLUS??O: Os achados fornecem evid??ncias importantes de que a hipertens??o ?? um problema de sa??de p??blica associado ?? dislipidemia e ?? obesidade abdominal, na ??rea rural de Minas Gerais.BACKGROUND: Hypertension represents a serious public health problem and is one of the most frequent causes of morbidity around the world. OBJECTIVE: To estimate the prevalence of hypertension and its risk factors in a rural community located in the north-eastern state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out in 2004 in the Virgem das Gra??as Village, a rural community located the Jequitinhonha Valley. The sample consisted of 287 males and females aged between 18 to 88 years. Hypertension was defined according to Joint National Committee criteria (systolic blood pressure > 140 mmHg and/or diastolic blood pressure > 90 mmHg): subjects already receiving anti-hypertensive treatment were considered to be hypertensive. Bivariate analysis was performed to test the relationship between the independent variables and hypertension. Logistic regression was used to adjust for confounding and to identify interactions. The strength of association was measured using Odds Ratio (OR) and its 95% confidence intervals [CI (95%)]. RESULTS: The crude prevalence of hypertension was 47.0% [CI (95%): 41.1 ??? 53.0], the age-standardized prevalence was 43.2% [CI (95%): 35.7 ??? 50.7], while the schooling-standardized prevalence was 44.1% [CI (95%): 43.9 ??? 44.3]. Age, triglycerides, waist circumference and sex were found to be independent risk factors for hypertension according to multivariate analysis. CONCLUSION: The findings provide important evidence concerning the hypertension as a public health problem and its association with dyslipidemia and abdominal obesity in the rural area of Minas Gerais