Study of prevalence of hypertension in young adult population of age group 20 to 40 years in an urban slum of Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Background: Hypertension is a growing health problem in Asia, while most studies describe hypertension in older adults and elderly. There is paucity of data on hypertension in teenagers and young adults, as they are deemed to be at lower risk of developing the disease. With the growing problem of hypertension in worldwide there is concern that hypertension in young population may also be on a rise. But those cases remain undetected because of inadequate screening in this age group. So, there’s a need to study the prevalence of hypertension in young population.Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out in the field practice area (Shivaji Nagar urban health centre) of the T. N. Medical College, Mumbai during the period of July 2014 to June 2015. A total 450 participants in the age group of 20 to 40 years using systematic sampling technique from Shivaji Nagar area were interviewed and examined. A pre-tested interview tool was used to collect necessary information. Blood pressure <120/80 mmHg (normal), 120/80 to 139/89 mmHg (pre hypertension) and >140/90 mmHg (hypertension).Results: Out of the 450 participants, 322 (71.6%) participants had normal blood pressure and 55 (12.2%) participants had pre-hypertension, 64 (14.2%) participants had stage I hypertension and 9 (2.0%) participants had stage II hypertension.Conclusions: Prevalence of hypertension and pre-hypertension was 16.2% and 12.2% respectively. Various factors like gender, increasing age, low physical activity (exercise), high BMI, history of addiction, history of extra salt intake and family history of hypertension was associated with hypertension.