[Hypertension in rural communities. Study in the VIII Region, Chile]

The aim of this work was to study the prevalence of hypertension in rural populations of the VIII region of Chile. Six thousand twenty four non institutionalized subjects. 14 years old or older, coming from eight randomly chosen rural communities were studied. Blood pressure was measured by trained personnel in two occasions within 30 minutes; in those classified as hypertensive, a third measurement was performed within 24 hours, eliminating alcohol intake and medications. Results show prevalence rates in the first, second and third measurement of 38.5, 30.8 and 22.8% respectively. The elimination of alcohol intake and medications decreased the prevalence in 3.9%. All the chosen communities has similar rates (19.8 to 21.2%) except Arauco, that had a significantly higher frequency of 31.9%. Zones of extreme ruralness had higher rates than small towns (23.8 vs 21.7%). There was a secular increase in the prevalence of hypertension from 4.9 in the 15 to 24 years old group to 57.8% among people 75 years old or older. Forty three percent of hypertensives were aware of such condition, 26.1% were receiving treatment and in 8.2% it was successful; all these figures were slightly better among women.