Blood pressure levels among cross-cultural populations of Visakhapatnam district, Andhra Pradesh, India

BACKGROUND: Elevated blood pressure is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality throughout the world, as a major contributor to cardiovascular diseases. Blood pressure tends to vary cross-culturally and studies to address the influence of acculturization/modernization on blood pressure are limited from India, particularly from Andhra Pradesh. AIM: To provide information on blood pressure levels and variability across population groups from the State of Andhra Pradesh, India, and to examine the influence of acculturization/modernization on blood pressure levels. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The blood pressure levels among 1316 individuals (646 men and 670 women) belonging to two tribal (Khondh and Valmiki) and two caste groups (Wadabalija and Settibalija) from rural and urban areas from Andhra Pradesh were collected. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to examine the effect of age and sex, and population differences. RESULTS: The distribution of blood pressure showed significant variability among these population groups. Higher levels of blood pressure were noticed in an acculturizing tribe, the Valmiki, than among the Khondh, a traditional tribal population. The results indicate that age had significant effect on both systolic and diastolic blood pressure levels. Also, the systolic blood pressure was relatively more sensitive than diastolic blood pressure to the effect of age. The sex did not contribute significantly to the variability of blood pressure. CONCLUSIONS: The study revealed significant population differences in the variability of blood pressure, with higher levels among acculturizing tribal population than the non-acculturizing group. But no significant variation was noticed between rural and urban slum dwellers. Age had a significant effect on blood pressure levels.