Prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control of hypertension among China's Sichuan Tibetan population: A cross-sectional study

Background: Our aim is to investigate the prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control status of hypertension and explore the associated factors among Sichuan Tibetan population.Methods: A cross-sectional investigation was conducted in the Sichuan Tibetan region from to September 2013 to March to 2014. Three thousand two hundred and forty persons were included in the study through a multi-stage stratified clustering sampling. Participants received questionnaires and physical examination. Blood pressure (BP) was recorded three times after 5 min of rest with the mean taken as the final BP. Hypertension was defined according the 2010 Chinese guidelines for the management of hypertension.Results: Prevalence of hypertension was 45.7%. The proportion of different stages (1-3) of hypertension was 31.7%, 9.2%, and 7.6% for males and 26.3%, 9.5%, and 6.0% for females. The rate of awareness, treatment, and control of hypertension were 4.9%, 21.3%, and 3.0% for males and 7.5%, 24.5%, and 3.1% for females. Multiple-factor analysis found that age, overweight or obesity (odds ratio(OR)=1.16), drinking alcohol (OR = 1.29, 95% confidence interval (CI):1.07-1.54), increased waist circumference (OR = 1.81, 95%CI: 1.39-2.36), family history of hypertension (OR = 1.51, 95%CI; 1.28-1.78), higher salt intakes (OR = 1.62, 95%CI: 1.24-2.11), long duration of sleep (OR = 1.05, 95%CI: 1.01-1.09), rural area (OR = 1.99, 95%CI: 1.64-2.41), and drinking coffee at times (OR = 0.71, 95%CI:0.57-0.87) were related to hypertension.Conclusion: Prevalence of hypertension in Sichuan Tibetan was significantly higher than the national level with low rates of awareness, treatment, and control of hypertension. Intervention measurements are needed to change some unhealthy lifestyles, behaviors, and habits in this region.