Prevalence of Hypertension and Its Relationship with Health Complaints in Elderly Iranians: A Multi-Site Community-Based Study

The prevalence of Hypertension (HTN) in developing countries might have a different pattern in different countries. This study aimed at investigating the current pattern of HTN and evaluating its relationship with health complaints in elderly Iranian individuals in 2012. This cross sectional study used multistage sampling to investigate 1 350 Iranian elderly subjects (≥ 60 years) living in the community. Those elderly, who had a systolic blood pressure (SBP) ≥ 140 mmHg and/or diastolic blood pressure (DBP) ≥ 90 mmHg and/or those who used antihypertensive drugs during the previous two weeks, were considered as HTN. A face-to-face interview was performed using a structured questionnaire, including demographic factors, awareness, treatment and control of HTN, and health complaints for each individual. Chi-square test and multiple logistic regression analyses were applied to detect the most important variables related to HTN. Hypertension was seen in 48.5% of individuals. Awareness, treatment, and control of HTN were seen in 40.7%, 82.5%, and 30% of individuals, respectively. Elderly individuals with HTN had significantly more experienced visual disturbances (P = 0.03), fecal or urinary incontinence (P = 0.006), nocturia (P = 0.002), attacks of shortness of breath (P = 0.004), and hyperlipidaemia (P < 0.001). After adjusting for potential confounders such as ethnicity, nocturia (OR, 1.34; CI 95%, 1.02 - 1.75) and hyperlipidemia (OR, 1.94; 95% CI, 1.5 - 2.51) remained significantly relevant to HTN. The prevalence of HTN was lower in elderly community-living Iranians than developed countries, yet, was still considerable. Nocturia and hyperlipidemia were the most common health complaints in Iranian elderly with HTN.