Correlation Between Body Mass Index and Blood Pressure Levels Among Hypertensive Patients: A Gender-Based Comparison

Objective Blood pressure (BP) has been found to rise among populations due to the high body mass index (BMI). Overweight and persons who have high BP are prone to develop heart diseases. The objective of this study was to evaluate the correlation between BMI and BP among hypertensive patients in both males and females aged 18 years and above. Methodology A cross-sectional study was carried out among patients with a self-reported history of hypertension and anti-hypertensive medication. After taking ethical approval, a total of 337 patients aged 18 or above were selected by using convenience sampling. The duration of the study was six months. A detailed history was taken from each patient about hypertension associated symptoms with the help of a self- designed questionnaire. The BMI of the patients was assessed. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 20.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA) was used to analyze the collected data. Spearman correlation was used, and p-value <0.05 was considered significant. Results In a total of 337 patients, the mean age of the patients was 45.87 +/- 13.38 years. In which 176 (52.2%) were males and 161 (47.8%) were females. Their mean BMI level was 26.83 +/- 5.83 kg/m(2), and the mean systolic blood pressure level was 141.78 +/- 13.00 mm Hg whereas the diastolic blood pressure was 85.21 +/- 10.03 mm Hg. The results also showed that among males the BMI had a significant negative correlation with both systolic blood pressure level (rho = -0.212, p = 0.011) and diastolic blood pressure level (rho = -0.208, p = 0.013), while in females the correlation was insignificant. Conclusion Our study results concluded that the BMI of the patients had a significant weak negative correlation with both systolic blood pressure level and diastolic blood pressure level in males; however, no significant correlation was found in females.