Lifestyle characteristics and hypertension in the middle‐aged population of Kraków

Hypertension affects nearly one-third of total Polish adult population. Poor control of hypertension largely contributes to high cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality in Poland. However, satisfactory hypertension control at the national level could be beyond economical conditions. Prevention of hypertension by lifestyle modification may be one of the ways to decrease CVD population risk attributed to hypertension. The goal was to assess the relation between the chance of having hypertension and lifestyle characteristics, i.e. education, smoking, physical activity, salt consumption, ethanol consumption and body mass index (BMI) in the middle-aged population of the urban population of Kraków. A cross-sectional study of a random sample of 1157 women and 1153 men, permanent inhabitants of Kraków at age 45-64 years, was carried out by home interview followed by a visit in the clinic. There were 66% men and 56% women who had hypertension. After adjustment for age, BMI over 27.5 kg/m2 in men and over 25.0 kg/m2 in women was strongly related to hypertension. In men, odds ratio (OR) increased from 1.96 in the group with overweight (27.5 kg/m2 < or = BMI < 30.0 kg/m2) to 5.33 in the group with obesity (BMI > or = 35.0 kg/m2). In women, OR increased from 1.6 in the group with overweight (25.0 kg/m2 < or = BMI < 27.5 kg/m2) to 13.42 in the group with obesity (BMI > or = 35.0 kg/m2). In men, after adjustment for age and BMI, a higher chance of hypertension was found for binge drinkers but the result was of borderline significance (p = 0.057). In women, moderate alcohol consumption was related to lower chance of hypertension (OR = 0.72). Women who were current smokers had lower chance of hypertension (OR = 0.67). No significant relation between smoking and hypertension was found in men. After adjustment for age and BMI, there was no significant relation between hypertension and physical activity. However, both in men and in women, there was a dose effect of leisure time physical activity on the average estimate of the chance of hypertension. Education, estimate of sodium consumption and blood total cholesterol (TC) were not related to hypertension. The findings confirmed that weight control may be a strong tool for preventing hypertension and increasing physical activity and refraining from binge drinking may have a protective effect.