*Corresponding author email: anwaradnan32@gmail.com Symbiosis Group Symbiosis www.symbiosisonlinepublishing.com ISSN Online: 2374-8362 Hypertension and its Associated Factors: A Cross-Sectional Analysis Huwaina Amna Osmani 1 , Roma Raj 2 , Noyan Jawed 3 , Sana Akhtar Noor 4 , Amna Arshad 5 , Ruby Ziauddin 6 Ayesha Anum 7 and Adnan Anwar 8* 1 MBBS, General Practitioner 2 MBBS, Dow University of Health Sciences 3 MBBS, House Officer, Abbasi Shaheed Hospital 4 MBBS, Dow University of Health Sciences 5 MBBS, Hamdard college of Medicine and dentistry 6 Medical Student, Karachi Medical and Dental College 7 MBBS, House Officer, Jinnah Post Graduate Medical Center 8 MBBS, M. Phil. Assistant Professor, Altibri Medical College Palliative Medicine & Care: Open Access Open Access Research Article Received: June 27,2019; Accepted: July 19, 2019; Published: July 25 , 2019 *Corresponding author: Dr. Adnan Anwar, MBBS, M.Phil, Assistant Professor Department of Physiology Al Tibri Medical College Karachi; anwaradnan32@gmail.com Abstract Objective: To evaluate systolic and diastolic hypertension and their associated factors in hypertensive patients. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out in the outpatient department of a secondary care hospital of Karachi. A total of 304 patients, aged 18 or above, with self-reported history of hypertension and on anti-hypertensive medication were included in the study. The necessary data were collected by using a structured questionnaire whereas the blood pressure level was measured with the help of a sphygmomanometer and stethoscope. The data were analyzed on SPSS version 20 and the inferential analysis was performed using binary logistic regression. Results: The multivariable analysis revealed that age (p=0.003), smoking history (p=0.005) and palpitation (p=0.027) were significantly associated with systolic hypertension whereas duration of hypertension (p=0.022) and palpitation (p=0.040) were significantly associated with diastolic hypertension. Conclusion: It was concluded that certain participant characteristics such as older age, longer duration of hypertension, positive smoking history and presence of palpitation do affect or result from the presence of systolic and/or diastolic hypertension in such patients. Keywords: Hypertension, associated factors, cross-sectional analysis Introduction Hypertension is defined as a systolic blood pressure (SBP) of 140 mm Hg or more, or a diastolic blood pressure (DBP) of 90 mm Hg or more, or taking antihypertensive medication [1]. Based on the recommendations of the Seventh Report of the Joint National Committee on prevention, detection, evaluation, and treatment of high blood pressure (JNC 7), blood pressure for adults aged 18 years or older has been classified into four categories as normal, Prehypertension, stage 1 hypertension and stage 2 hypertension: Normal (systolic<120 mm Hg, diastolic<80 mm Hg);Prehypertension(systolic 120-139 mm Hg, diastolic 80-89 mm Hg);Stage 1 Hypertension(systolic 140-159 mm Hg, diastolic 90-99 mm Hg) and Stage 2 Hypertension (systolic 160 mm Hg or greater, diastolic 100 mm Hg or greater)[2]. Hypertension can be of two types, essential and secondary. Essential hypertension can be defined as a rise in blood pressure of unknown cause that increases risk for cerebral, cardiac, and renal events [3]. Secondary hypertension is defined as increased systemic blood pressure due to an identifiable cause [4]. A vast majority of patients suffering from arterial hypertension have essential or primary hypertension and only 5 to 10% of them have secondary hypertension [4]. The estimated total number of adults with hypertension in 2000 was 972 million, 333 million in economically developed countries and 639 million in economically developing countries; the number of adults with hypertension in 2025 is predicted to increase by about 60% to a total of 1.56 billion [5]. It has been recently estimated that in 2010, 31.1% of the world’s adults had hypertension; 28.5% in high-income countries and 31.5% in low- and middle-income countries; and an estimated 1.39 billion people had hypertension in 2010; 349 million in high- income and 1.04 billion in low- and middle-income countries.