engleski

High Prevalence of Hypertension in Croatian Adults: Continental and Coastal Distribution

Objectives: to assess prevalence of hypertension (HT) in Croatia including geographical distribution in 30 localities according to the continental and coastal regions. Methods: A representative sample of Croatian adults was examined in the National Study. Blood pressure (BP) and anthropometric measurements were performed in 5629 randomly selected subjects (age range 18-65). According to JNC VI (1999) guidelines, the diagnosis of HT was based on two separate BP measurements (BP>140/90 mm Hg). Results: the overall prevalence of HT in the sample population was 45%. There was higher prevalence among males (52%) than females (37.9%) in all regions. Differences were statistically significant. Prevalence increased with age in all regions, both in males and females and it was highest after the age of 50 years. According to the geographical distribution, the highest prevalence of HT was found in continental region of Zagreb (49.8%) but also in coastal region of Split (46.3%). Lower prevalence of HT was seen in another continental region of Osijek (39.2%) and the lowest in the coastal region of Rijeka (36%). Conclusions: Prevalence of HT is high, both in the continental and coastal regions, higher in males than females and rises with age. This great socio-economic and public health problem emerged with the rapid changes towards the urbanization in Croatia.

hypertension; adults; Croatia; geographical distribution

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