The independent effect of central obesity on hypertension in adults living in Ribeirão Preto, SP, 2007. EPIDCV Project.

OBJECTIVE To identify the prevalence of hypertension and evaluate the independent effect of central obesity on this outcome in adults living in the municipality of Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo State, Brazil. METHODS Cross-sectional population-based epidemiological study using three stage cluster sampling. The variability introduced in the third stage was corrected by attributing probability weights, resulting in a weighted sample of 2,471 participants. Hypertension was defined according to the disease history, the use of anti-hypertensive drugs or the mean of three consecutive measures, in mm/Hg, ≥ 140 for systolic and ≥ 90 for diastolic blood pressure. Prevalence of hypertension was estimated according to anthropometric, sociodemographic, behavioral and dietetic variables, as well as biochemical dosages and medication use. Crude and adjusted prevalence ratios for central obesity indices were estimated using Poisson regression. All the estimates were calculated taking into account the sampling design effect. RESULTS The results showed high prevalence of hypertension: 32.8 (males) and 44.5% (females). In the final models, central obesity indexes were consistently associated with the outcome, in both genders. CONCLUSION The results pointed out the need of planning health promotion and prevention, in order to control hypertension and central obesity aiming to reduce end-point events like coronary heart disease and stroke.