Association between Height and Blood Pressure in Middle Age and Older Adults in Southeast Nigeria

This study was carried out in Abia State, Southeast Nigeria, to determine the association between height and blood pressure in middle age and elderly adults.

This was a cross-sectional study carried out in Abia State, Southeast Nigeria, between August 2011 and March 2012. The participants were residents in the state and were recruited from the three senatorial zones of the state. The total number of participants that took part in the study was 2,487 adults. The World Health Organisation STEPwise approach to surveillance of chronic disease risk factors was used. Information collected included blood pressure and anthropometric measurements. The association between height and blood pressure was determined.

A total of 1,363 participants that took part in the study were >40 years old. Six hundred and fifty-five participants (48.1%) were males and 708 participants (51.9%) were females. There was no significant inverse relationship between height and blood pressure components ( Systolic Blood Pressure Diastolic Blood Pressure, and Pulse Pressure ) among the males. Among the females there was a high inverse relationship between height and blood pressure components. However, this relationship was not statistically significant. In addition, among the males there was no relationship between height and hypertension. Among the females, there was some degree of inverse relationship between height and hypertension, although multivariate regression analysis showed that this was not significant.

There was an inverse but non-significant relationship between height and blood pressure components/ hypertension among males and females in Southeast Nigeria in this study.