Risk Factors for the Prevalence of Undiagnosed Hypertension Among Apparently Healthy Academic Staff of Tertiary Institutions in Gombe State, Nigeria

Hypertension is one of the most prevalent chronic diseases in the world, and when it remains undiagnosed it poses a great danger. Hypertension was defined as systolic blood pressure of 140mmHg or higher and diastolic blood pressure of 90mmHg or higher. This study examined risk factors for the prevalence of undiagnosed hypertension among apparently healthy academic staff of tertiary institutions in Gombe state, Nigeria. Three research questions and corresponding research hypotheses were postulated. Blood pressure measurement, body mass index (BMI) and socio-demographic data of 400 academic staff were obtained in this cross-sectional study. Inferential statistic ofone sample t-test and Chi-square statistics were used to examine the associations between prevalence of hypertension and socio-demographic characteristics and BMI of the participants. Mean (SD) age of the participants was 32.69 years, while male was the majority (77.4%). Undiagnosed hypertension was detected in 25% (53/212) of the participants. Prevalence of undiagnosed hypertension was significantly associated with the age (p=0.001), educational qualification (p=0.044), smoking status (p=0.016) and body mass index (p=0.004) of the academic staff. One in four Academic staff of Gombe State Tertiary Institutions in Nigeria had undiagnosed hypertension with a significantly higher prevalence among older, smokers and obese staff. The need for regular higher blood pressure screening or routine medical check-up especially for elderly and effective preventive and attenuating strategies such as provision of fitness centres at various secondary schools to enable teachers achieve physical fitness is emphasized.