The influence of socio-economic status on casual blood pressures of the adult Nigerians

BACKGROUND: Studies into social inequalities in health tend to focus more on parental socio-economic status (SES) as it affects the children. We aimed to test the hypothesis that socio-economic inequalities would not affect the casual blood pressure among Nigerian adults. METHODS AND RESULTS: Resting blood pressure (BP) and pulse rate of 1067 sedentary adults were measured. Rate pressure product and pulse pressure were later calculated. Second, a structured questionnaire, which objectively assessed the SES of the subjects, was administered. Subsequently, a self-rating SES ladder was employed to classify the subjects into different socio-economic groups. This was used as a check for the structured questionnaire. A Pearson product correlation coefficient comparing the two outcome measures revealed a high correlation (r=0.951, P<0.01). Socio-economic status was found to have an inverse significant (P<0.05) effect on systolic pressure, heart rate and pulse pressure. The 95th centile blood pressure obtained was 154/91 mmHg. CONCLUSION: Low SES is associated with development of hypertension among the Nigerian adults.