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Published on: September 27, 2024
Isolated systolic hypertension and its associated risk factors in Iranian middle age and older population: a
Ali Hosseinzadeh1, Hossein Ebrahimi2, Ahmad Khosravi1
1Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Shahroud University of Medical Sciences, Shahroud, Iran.
Background:
Isolated systolic hypertension (ISH), is the most common form of hypertension in older adults. However, the ISH prevalence is not well known in many developing countries such as Iran. This study was conducted to determine the ISH prevalence and its related risk factors in an Iranian population.
Methods:
Data were obtained from the second phase of the Shahroud eye cohort study (ShECS) in 2014. ShECS is a longitudinal population-based study which the first phase had been conducted in 2009 using the stratified multistage cluster sampling design on 5190 people aged 40 to 70 years. The ISH prevalence was determined based on the eighth Joint National Commission guidelines for different demographic variables. The associated risk factors were estimated by multiple logistic regression and a two-tailed p-value less than 0.05 was considered significant.
Results:
The ISH prevalence was 15.89% (95% CI: 14.88-16.96). It was 15.68% (14.12-17.39) and 15.87% (14.54-17.29) for men and women, respectively. The prevalence of ISH increased significantly with increasing age. The 65-70 compared to 45-69 year age group (OR = 4.21), body mass index (OR = 1.03), diabetes (OR = 1.64), retirement, compared to practitioner job (OR = 1.53), and waist to hip ratio (WHR) (OR = 9.81) were significantly associated with ISH prevalence.
Conclusions:
ISH is highly prevalent among the older adult population in Iran. Given the risk of cardiovascular disease associated with ISH, it is recommended to conduct education and public health interventions to improve the detection, prevention, and treatment of ISH.
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Hypertension II: Pathophysiology
Factors affecting Blood pressure
Physiological Factors:
Hypertension and Regulation of Blood Pressure
Special considerations while measuring blood pressure
Monitoring Both Arms:
Monitoring BP in both arms during the initial assessment is advisable, as the systolic value may differ by five to ten mm Hg between arms. For subsequent BP assessments, use the arm with the higher reading.

