Prevalence, Awareness and Risk Factors of Hypertension among Public Sector Workers Aged 40 Years and above in the Tamale Metropolis of Ghana

Aim: To determine the prevalence, awareness and risk factors associated with hypertension among adults.

Study Design: Cross-sectional study.

Place and Duration of Study: Tamale Metropolis from January to March 2020.

Methodology: 200 adults (101 men and 99 females) aged 40 years and above were recruited. Socio-demographic characteristics, anthropometric and blood pressure data of participants collected through face-to-face administered questionnaire and physical measurements were analyzed for prevalence, knowledge and awareness of hypertension. Binary and multivariate logistic regression was used to estimate the odds of association of risk factors with hypertension.

Results: Overall age-standardized prevalence of hypertension was 46.00% (49.50% in males, 42.42% in females). The prevalence of both systolic and diastolic hypertension was higher in males than in females. 49.10% of hypertensive participants were unaware of their status at the time of this study and 83.3% of the hypertensive participants who were aware of their status were diagnosed incidentally. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed a significant positive association of being male [AOR = 2.39, (95% CI: 1.08–5.30)], aged between 50 – 65 years [AOR = 2.03, (95% CI: 1.03–4.01)], and being obese [AOR = 3.64, (95% CI: 1.43–9.29)] with hypertension. Being widowed [AOR = 0.06, (95% CI: 0.01–0.66)] was negatively associated with hypertension. Only obesity [AOR = 2.81, (95% CI: 1.29–6.14)] was independently associated with hypertension.

Conclusion: Hypertension affects one in every two adults aged 40 years and above in the Tamale Metropolis of Ghana. Awareness of adult hypertension status in the Metropolis is very low with the most diagnoses of the disease occurring accidentally. Obesity, advancing age, being male and being widowed are risk factors associated with hypertension. The study suggests workplace BP screening and a scale-up of awareness campaigns in the Metropolis to curb the incidence of the disease and control associated risk factors.