Background

Prevention and control of hypertension has not been given due attention though previous studies indicated that hypertension is growing public health problem.

Objective

This study aimed to determine the prevalence of hypertension and associated factors in Bona district, southern Ethiopia.

Methods

A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted on 1952 participants aged ≥25 years in Bona District, southern Ethiopia. Data were collected from consented participants recruited using multistage sampling technique. Data were entered, checked for quality, and analyzed by SPSS for Windows version 20.0. Since the outcome variables were ordered categorical, we used multinomial logistic regression model to identify associated factors. Among the independent variables included in the model no multicollinearity was observed. The level of significance was set at P value ≤ 0.05.

Results

The observed prevalence of hypertension (21.8%) was remarkable in a rural setting. Out of hypertensive participants, 195 (45.9%) were newly diagnosed. About one-third of the participants (31.4%) had central obesity measured by a waist-to-height ratio ≥0.50. Being male, age advancement, high BMI (≥25.0 kg/m2) and central obesity (waist-to-height ratio ≥0.50) were positively associated with both systolic and diastolic hypertension. Systolic hypertension was negatively associated with high family income. The likely hood of developing diastolic hypertension increased in participants with a family history of hypertension.

Conclusion

The overall prevalence of hypertension, 21.8%, is alarmingly high that it can be said that hypertension is becoming a silent epidemic in Ethiopia. Nationwide survey is needed to get the clear magnitude of hypertension so that early detection and management strategies can be enforced.

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