A Retrospective Survey of the Incidence of Hypertension in Abia State-Nigeria

Abstract

Hypertension is becoming more common as urbanization increases and this has been shown in several studies all over the world especially in Africa. This study was carried out to survey the incidence of hypertension in Abia State using Aba metropolis as the case study from 1995 - 2005, so as to make recommendations that would help modify life style of the people, thus helping to reduce the growing incidence of hypertension related complications such as stroke, heart failure, kidney failure, heart attack etc. It was a cross sectional study with data collected from four different hospitals in Aba, Abia State. The data was tabulated, compared and analyzed using percentage. From the result, it was observed that the incidence was higher in men than in women. Also, the incidence appeared to have dropped in 1995 and 1996. All other years recorded increased incidence with 2005 having the highest percentage. The total incidence and percentage incidence were worked out and represented in a bar chart. The result showed an increased incidence from 5.5% in 1995 to 14.7% in 2005, showing an increase of 9.2% over 11 years period, which amounts to an average increase of 0.8% annually. The incidence of Hypertension increases as the year goes by, hence the need for life style modification.