An inter-racial study of the prevalence of hypertension in an urban South African population

This study was done to compare and contrast the prevalence of hypertension in the three racial groups of Durban, namely the Africans (Zulus), Indians and Whites, and was a random house-to-house study of 1,000 of each group. The prevalence of hypertension according to World Health Organization (WHO) criteria was highest in the African (25%), intermediate in the White (22.8%) and lowest in the Indian (19%). Age-corrected prevalence rates were: African 25%, Whites 17.2 % and Indians 14.19%. Prevalence of hypertension was more common in females than in males in the African and Indian population, unlike the Whites. In all racial groups the mean arterial pressure rose with age. Unlike the White study, African females between the ages of 35 and 40 years