Hypertension Prevalence in Van, Turkey-1997

Objective: The aim was to investigate the prevalence of hypertension in Van. Method: A total of 2010 subjects (586 male, mean age: 44.8 ± 14.9; 1424 female, mean age: 39.1 ± 14.1) between the ages of 20-74, were sampled from a target population of 315,866 according to systematic sampling technique. Blood pressure of each participant was measured by using ErkaAE sphygmomanometer for two times with a 3 minutes interval by a physician and an average was obtained. Results: Hypertension prevalence was 34.9 % (males: 33.3 %, females: 35.5 %, p> 0.05) according to 140/90 mmHg criterium and  19.1 % (males: 14.5 %, females: 21.0 %, p < 0.001) according to 160/95 mmHg criterium. Mean systolic and diastolic blood pressures were 129.97± 27.78 mmHg (95% CI:128.7, 131.2) (males:128.20 ± 24.30 (95 % CI: 126.2, 130.2), females: 130.70 ± 29.10 (95 % CI: 129.2, 132.2), p = 0.013) and 81.95 ± 14.24 mmHg (95 % CI: 81.3, 82.6) males: 81.10 ± 13.0 (95 % CI: 80.0, 82.2), females: 82.30 ± 14.70 (95 % CI: 81.5, 83.1), p = 0.07), respectively. Conclusion: In Van, hypertension is a serious health problem and efficient public health measures and education programs are needed. Key words:  Turkey, Van, hypertension, prevalence, epidemiology