Abstract 149: Association Between Hypertension and Chronic Exposure in Bangladesh

Objective: To determine the association between chronic arsenic exposure via drinking water and prevalence of hypertension among rural Bangladeshi adults. Design, Setting, Participants: This is an analytical cross sectional study among 1004 participants from 1682 eligible men and women (Participation rate 60%) aged >30 years living in Bangladesh who had continuously consumed arsenic-contaminated drinking water for at least 6 months. Main Outcome Measures: Hypertension was defined as systolic blood pressure > 140 mm of Hg or a diastolic blood pressure > 90 mm of Hg or in combination of the both. Results: A total of 1004 individuals participated in the study. The prevalence of hypertension was 6.6% (95% CI 5.1-8.3%). After adjustment for participant’s age, sex, education, religion, marital status, sign of arsenical skin lesions, monthly household income and BMI, no excess risk of hypertension was observed for drinking water arsenic exposure over 50μg/L. Also, there was no increased risk for higher concentration of arsenic in the drinking water. Arsenic concentration >50 μg/L in drinking water showed no association with systolic, diastolic hypertension separately however, it shows a strong relationship with increased pulse pressure when pulse pressure categorized as Conclusion: Unlike other studies conducted in developing countries that reported a significant association, this study suggests no association between higher drinking water arsenic concentration and hypertension except for pulse pressure.