Determine Prevalence of Hypertension and Risk Factors among Employees Working at Port Said University

Background: Essential Hypertension (HTN) is a challenge for public health professionals all over the world. It is the leading and most important modifiable risk factor for coronary heart disease, congestive heart failure, stroke, renal diseases and retinopathy. People's occupations during their working years can clearly be a risk for hypertension, this can be seen amongst employees of the profession where working is mostly sedentary as university employees. So. The Aim: Of the present study is to determine prevalence of hypertension and study of risk factors related to occurrence of hypertension among employees working at Port Said University. Study Sample and Setting: The study was done on 467 employees (287 females and 180 males) in all faculties of Port Said University. Tool: A questionnaire sheet developed by the researchers was used to collect data from employees, blood pressure, weight and height were also measured. Results: The study results revealed that 24.9% of the total sample suffers from hypertension, 46% of them were obese, a statistical significant association was found between age, years of experience, body mass index and hypertension. Conclusion: Obesity, years of experience, age might be risk factors for hypertension in the university employees. Recommendation: This study highlighted the needs for more studies to detect hypertension and explore other risk factors associated with it for employees of such profession. There is also a need to encourage public health professionals to carry out awareness and prevention programs among this group of people.