Abstract
BACKGROUND: Hypertension is the most common disorder which is encountered in outdoor patients. The existing data suggests that there is an increase in the prevalence of pre-hypertension and hypertension in India. The prevalence of hypertension will increase even further, unless broad and effective preventive measures are implemented. The main objective of this study was to find out the prevalence of hypertension amongst the adult outdoor patients of an urban health centre of Lucknow district. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This observational, Out Patients Department based study involved a survey on 306 male and 1203 female respondents who were aged 18 years, who attended the Urban Health Training Centre of the Department of Community Medicine, Era's Lucknow Medical College and Hospital, Lucknow, India. A structured, pretested schedule was used to collect the data with regards to the demographic characteristics and the blood pressure pattern. The Chi- square test and ANOVA were used to analyze the data. RESULTS: The prevalence of hypertension was found to be 44.46%. The proportion of hypertension showed an increasing trend with age. The mean systolic as well as diastolic blood pressure patterns were found to be higher, with an increase in age. CONCLUSION: Hypertension was found to be highly prevalent among the outdoor patients of an urban health centre of Lucknow. An early detection of hypertension can be facilitated by periodically screening people regularly.