International Journal of Community Medicine and Public Health | September 2019 | Vol 6 | Issue 9 Page 3748 International Journal of Community Medicine and Public Health Das S et al. Int J Community Med Public Health. 2019 Sep;6(9):3748-3753 http://www.ijcmph.com pISSN 2394-6032 | eISSN 2394-6040 Original Research Article Prevalence of hypertension and its significant correlates among Bangladeshi adults: a quantitative analysis from City Corporation Rangpur, Bangladesh Sukanta Das 1 *, B. K. Chakravorti 2 , Sahebul Islam 2 INTRODUCTION High blood pressure or hypertension (HTN) is an enormous health problem and is one of the biggest health challenges in the 21st century for the low and middle- income countries like Bangladesh. 1 HTN is usually symptomless and often regarded as a disease in its own right. Hypertension usually effects on health and causes coronary heart disease, stroke, heart failure, chronic kidney disease, aortic aneurysm, retinal disease, and peripheral vascular disease without giving any sign and for these reasons some people called it as “silent killer”. The definite cause of hypertension is unknown until now. But some risk factors for hypertension are age, gender, ethnicity, excess salt intake, overweight and obesity, physical inactivity, smoking habits, smokeless tobacco habits, excessive alcohol intake, etc. Nowadays people are familiar with the symptom of hypertension and with the associated diseases related to hypertension that are detectable and easily treatable. 1 Though people are not concern about the proper treatment and remedy ABSTRACT Background: Hypertension (HTN) is a common medical problem and the premier risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Hypertension is growing at a faster rate among all aged population. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the prevalence of hypertension and to identify the significant risk factors of hypertension among the respondents. Methods: The sample of 1302 randomly selected respondents of various government offices at Rangpur City Corporation, Bangladesh are taken for this study. Hypertension was defined by the systolic blood pressure reading above 140 or the diastolic reading above 90 mmHg. Pre-hypertension was defined by the systolic blood pressure reading 120-139 or the diastolic reading 80-89 mmHg. Prevalence and risk factors of hypertension are presented as percentages. The significant association between the categorical variables is measured using Chi-square test. Results: It is found that the prevalence of hypertension and pre-hypertension (stage-1 HTN) among the respondents are 25% and 54%, respectively. Most of the respondents are in the pre-HTN stage, and at any time they may fall under hypertension. Respondent’s age, gender, residence, smoking habit, and physical activity are found as significant factors of hypertension. Conclusions: Reliable information about the prevalence of hypertension and its associated risk factors is very essential for growing awareness, treatment, and control of hypertension. Prevalence of hypertension is high among the study subjects. The male respondents who are at the higher age group, residing in the urban area, not taking regular physical exercise, and having smoking habit are found more prevalent cases of hypertension than the other counterparts. Keywords: Hypertension, Prevalence, Risk factors, Non-communicable diseases 1 Department of Statistics, 2 Department of Physics, Begum Rokeya University, Rangpur, Bangladesh Received: 04 July 2019 Accepted: 08 August 2019 *Correspondence: Sukanta Das, E-mail: sdas1@isrt.ac.bd Copyright: © the author(s), publisher and licensee Medip Academy. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20193964