High prevalence and poor control of hypertension in five venezuelan populations: the VEMSOLS study

The prevalence of hypertension in multiple regions of Venezuela is unknown. The objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence of hypertension in five populations from three regions. During 2006 to 2010, 1392 subjects aged 20 or older were selected by multistage stratified random sampling from all households in five municipalities from: Lara State (Western region), Merida State (Andean region), and Capital District (Capital region). Anthropometric measurements, blood pressure, and biochemical analysis were obtained from each participant. Mean age was 45.2 ± 0.4 years and 68% were females. The overall prevalence of hypertension was 31.3% (CI 95% 28.9 – 33.8), it was higher in men than women (38.1% [33.5 – 42.8] vs. 28.2% [25.4 – 31.2], respectively; p <0.001). The hypertensive participants were older, with higher body mass index (BMI), glucose, total cholesterol, LDL-c, and triglycerides; and lower values of HDL-c, than pre-hypertensive and normotensive participants (p < 0.05). In women, hypertension prevalence increased linearly for every decade of life and by category of BMI; whereas in men it increased until the fifth decade of life, and was similar in patients with overweight and obesity. The risk of hypertension increased with age, the presence of obesity, diabetes, overweight and family history of hypertension. Only 17.7% of the hypertensive subjects were both treated and controlled. In conclusion, about one third of the subjects evaluated had hypertension and about one fifth of them had their hypertension under control. In Venezuela, hypertension is a serious public health problem exacerbated by age and overweight.