PRE HYPERTENSION AMONG FIRST YEAR MBBS STUDENTS

Pre-hypertension is not a disease category rather it is a designation chosen to identify individuals at high risk of developing hypertension, so that both patients and clinicians are alerted to this risk and encouraged to intervene and prevent the disease from developing. It is a major risk factor for stroke and coronary heart diseases which is a contributor to onset and progression of chronic heart failure and chronic kidney failure in coming times, associated with many adverse outcomes. Method: The study type is cross sectional, conducted among 100 first year MBBS students. Blood pressure was measured in sitting posture using a standard sphygmomanometer by auscultatory method at interval of 5 minutes and mean of three readings were taken. Blood pressure was classified as per the Joint National Committee (JNC-VII). Statistical analysis was done to find out the prevalence of pre-hypertension among first year MBBS students. Results: The overall prevalence of pre-hypertension came out to be 51%. Among gender the difference was significant with 63.15% (36) prevalence among males and 34.88% (15) prevalence among females.