Research Article Sociodemographic Correlates of Modifiable Risk Factors for Hypertension in a Rural Local Government Area of Oyo State South West Nigeria Saliu Abdulsalam, 1 Adenike Olugbenga-Bello, 2 Olakunle Olarewaju, 1 and Ismail Abdus-salam 3 1 Department of Community Medicine, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology Teaching Hospital, Ogbomoso, Oyo State, Nigeria 2 Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Clinical Sciences, College of Health Sciences, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Osogbo, Nigeria 3 Directorate of Disease Control, Lagos State Ministry of Health, Alausa, Ikeja 100282, Lagos State, Nigeria Correspondence should be addressed to Saliu Abdulsalam; saliu abdulsalam@yahoo.co.uk Received 29 May 2014; Revised 16 October 2014; Accepted 11 November 2014; Published 21 December 2014 Academic Editor: Markus Schlaich Copyright © 2014 Saliu Abdulsalam et al. Tis is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Modifable risk factors of hypertension contribute signifcantly to all-cause morbidity and mortality worldwide. Te study aimed to determine the prevalence of and the association of modifable risk factors with hypertension in rural community. A cross- sectional study was conducted among 166 male and 201 female adults of 18 years and above using cluster sampling technique. Data were collected using modifed WHO STEPS instrument and hypertensive subjects were defned as those with systolic greater than or equal to 140 and diastolic of 90mmHg. Data were analyzed with SPSS version 17 with level of signifcance at  < 0.05. Te mean age of the subjects was 36.36 (±16.88) years and mean systolic and diastolic pressures were 124 (±16.93) and 76.32 (±11.85)mmHg, respectively. Te prevalence of hypertension was high (22.9%) in this rural communities but awareness was low, 10.71%. Te prevalence of alcohol consumption, sedentary lifestyle, abnormal weight, inadequate sleep, smoking, signifcant stress, and female use of hormonal contraceptives was 149 (40.6%), 91 (24.8%), 88 (24.0%), 122 (33.2%), 14 (3.8%), 65 (17.7%), and 53 (26.5%), respectively. Overweight, sex, inadequate sleep, and stress were established as positive predictors of hypertension. Te rising prevalence of hypertension and its modifable risk factors in rural communities require prompt interventions directed at reversing these trends. 1. Introduction In the past few decades, signifcant changes have occurred in the pattern of health and disease in many developing countries with noncommunicable diseases becoming a great contributor to the burden of disease [1]. Te two major deter- minants of the increased burden are the epidemiological and demographic transitions [2]. Te epidemiological transition has resulted in the replacement of previously predominant infectious disease pattern with chronic noncommunicable diseases as dominant public health problems. Tere is also a very complex interplay between infectious diseases and noncommunicable diseases as the latter are now linked to or are due to infectious causes [2]. In addition, with demographic transition, there is enlarging population of people assuming longer life span leading to a very rapid increase in the magnitude of non-communicable diseases. Furthermore, with changes in diet, a more sedentary life, use of tobacco products, alcohol consumption, and other drugs there is an increase in the risk of hypertension and other diseases associated with altered lifestyle [3]. Hypertension is a chronic noncommunicable condition of concern due to its role in the causation of coronary heart disease, stroke, and other vascular complications. Te Nige- rian National Expert Committee on noncommunicable dis- eases defned hypertension using a blood pressure (BP) cutof of greater than or equal to 160/95 mmHg more than a decade ago [4]. However, recent classifcation defned hypertensive Hindawi Publishing Corporation International Journal of Hypertension Volume 2014, Article ID 842028, 9 pages http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/842028