O-25 Socioeconomic status and uncontrolled hypertension in urban Jamaica: a cross-sectional study
Author(s):
J Augustine, K Rocke, N Guthrie-Dixon, JA McKenzie, NOM Younger-Coleman, RJ Wilks, MK Tulloch-Reid, TS Ferguson
Year of Presentation:
2023
Objective: To estimate the prevalence of uncontrolled
hypertension among persons in urban Jamaica and investigate if there were any associations with socioeconomic
status (SES).
Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study using data from 809 urban residents, aged >15 years, from the Cardiovascular Health in Urban Communities Study. Trained observers collected sociodemographic data and obtained blood pressure and anthropometric measurements using standardized protocols. Uncontrolled hypertension was defined as BP =140/90 mmHg among participants who were aware of their diagnosis. Education and median community property value were used as SES measures. Associations were evaluated in sex-specific logistic regression models.
Results: The overall prevalence of hypertension was 39.9%. Among those who were aware of their diagnosis, 67.5% had uncontrolled hypertension; there was no sex difference (males, 67.7%; females, 67.4%; p=0.963). Education was inversely associated with uncontrolled hypertension among females [(OR 0.39, 95%CI [0.17, 0.93], p=0.034 for post high school education compared to primary education) in multivariable models adjusted for age, BMI, salt intake and physical activity. For male participants, those from communities in the higher land value tertiles had lower odds of uncontrolled hypertension (middle vs lowest tertile: OR 0.38, 95%CI [0.08, 1.62], p=0.191; highest vs lowest tertile: OR: 0.26, 95%CI [0.06, 1.08], p=0.063) after adjusting for potential confounders.
Conclusion: Approximately two-thirds of persons with hypertension in urban Jamaica have uncontrolled hypertension and this was inversely associated with sex specific markers of SES