Relationship between prehypertension and socioeconomic level in a hispanic population

To determine the relationship between prehypertension (PH) and socioeconomic factors in a Hispanic population, it was carried out this communitybase study, in Venezuela, that included 2109 adult subjects -males (n1⁄4570) and females (n1⁄41539)mean-age1⁄437 13 years, who were chosen from a random selection of households. Information about age, gender, educational level (EL) and blood pressure was collected at a single household visit. Pre-hypertension was defined as blood pressure values of 120-139/ 80-89 mmHg. Socioeconomic level was estimated using the educational level (EL) of each subject. The EL was classified in 4 categories: elementary, high and technical school and university degree. The Odds Ratio (OR) and 95% Confidence Interval (CI) were calculated through the Logistic Regression Analysis to know the relationship between PH and EL. The PH prevalence was 38.9% (n1⁄4821) in all subjects, 57.0% (n1⁄4325) in males and 32.2% (n1⁄4496) in females (p<0.0001). The frequency of EL in all individuals was: 53.2% (n1⁄41121), 32.6% (n1⁄4687), 7.5% (n1⁄4159) and 6.7% (n1⁄4142) for elementary, high and technical school and university degree, respectively. The logistic regression analysis showed that elementary and high school were statistically significant risk factors for PH in all subjects [OR: 1.841 (CI: 1.139 2.975), p<0.01 and OR: 1.766 (CI: 1.205 2.586) p<0.004 for elementary and high school, respectively]. However, the analysis by gender showed only elementary school as risk factor for PH in females (OR: 1.874, CI: 1.173-2.997, p<0.009), but not in males. This study showed that low education level is associated with PH in the Hispanic population analyzed, and this association is found only in female subjects.