Epidemiological study of hypertension in young (15-24 yr) Delhi urban population.

A community based epidemiological study of hypertension was cerried out on a random urban sample of young persons (15-24 yr) of Delhi. Hypertension was defined as systolic blood pressure greater than 140 mmHg and/or a diastolic blood pressure greater than 85 mmHg or a history current antihypertensive therapy. Of the 6543 subjects examined, 202 were found to be hypertensive. The overall pervalence rate was 30.9/1000 (male 41.2/1000, female 21.7/1000). Secondary hypertension was present in 4 of the 202 patients. Only 16 patients were aware of the presence of hypertension; of these 6 were on medication. Family history of hypertension was present in 87 subjects (43.1%)