Prevalence of pre-hypertension and its relationship with body mass index among the medical students of Agartala government medical college

Authors

  • Aghore Debbarma Department of Physiology, Agartala Government Medical College, Kunjavan-799006, Agartala, Tripura
  • Himadri Bhattacharjya Department of Community Medicine, Agartala Government Medical College, Kunjavan-799006, Agartala, Tripura
  • Arpita Mohanty 3rd Professional MBBS Student, Agartala Government Medical College, Kunjavan-799006, Agartala, Tripura
  • Chanda Mog Department of Community Medicine, Agartala Government Medical College, Kunjavan-799006, Agartala, Tripura

Keywords:

Pre-hypertension, Hypertension, Body mass index, Medical student

Abstract

Background: Body Mass Index (BMI) is found to be positively co-related with the increased prevalence of elevated blood pressure among younger individuals. The present study was designed to find out the prevalence of pre-hypertension and its relationship with BMI among the medical students.  

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted during June - July 2013 among 306 medical students of Agartala government medical college, chosen by stratified random sampling.  

Results: Prevalence of pre-hypertension, hypertension and optimum BP were found to be 45%, 4% and 51% respectively. Mean BMI was found to be 21.68 ± 3.55, 80% of the students had ideal waist hip ratio, 19% were underweight, 61 % had normal weight, 18 % were overweight, and 2% were found to be obese. Pre-hypertension was significantly more prevalent among the senior medical students (χ2 = 4.933, P = 0.026), males (χ2 = 10.826, P = 0.001) and those who had family history of hypertension (χ2 = 4.228, P= 0.039). Pre-hypertension was significantly higher among the obese medical students (χ2 = 6.941, P = 0.008). Logistic regression analysis revealed that medical students had 12.8% more chance of having pre-hypertension with one unit increase in their BMI.  

Conclusion: Prevalence of pre-hypertension among medical students is high and BMI is found to be significantly associated with pre-hypertension. Hence it can be used as an effective tool for predicting pre-hypertension and development of hypertension among medicos later on.

 

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Published

2017-01-08

How to Cite

Debbarma, A., Bhattacharjya, H., Mohanty, A., & Mog, C. (2017). Prevalence of pre-hypertension and its relationship with body mass index among the medical students of Agartala government medical college. International Journal of Research in Medical Sciences, 3(5), 1097–1101. Retrieved from https://www.msjonline.org/index.php/ijrms/article/view/1450

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Original Research Articles